South Devon dementia sufferers may have to be looked after in Exeter from next year after health chiefs revealed the future of Brunel Lodge, Newton Abbot, was in doubt.

The future of the 16-bed unit has been the subject of debate since 2004 when the Devon Partnership NHS Trust said it was struggling to cope with a £3 million defecit.

The organisation always maintained it had no plans to close the Newton Abbot facility despite similar units in Totnes and Brixham being axed.

In 2006, the trust's head of communications, Peter Leggatt, told the Advertiser: 'There are currently no plans to close or scale-down Brunel Lodge.'

Now the trust has said it can no longer guarantee the future of the unit which costs £1.2 million a year to run, employs 37 staff and on average cares for 14 patients at any one time.

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