A MULTI-million pound care centre for the elderly is being planned for the site of Coombe End House residential home in Marlborough.

The new-look home will have double the present number of beds for the elderly and may include sheltered accommodation for younger disabled people.

A year after Wiltshire Social Services director Ray Jones gave a pledge that Marlborough would not be left without a residential home for the elderly, he returned on Tuesday to outline proposals for the London Road site.

Coombe End House, which was built in the 1930s, does not come up to modern care standards and was the only one of 19 old people's homes in Wiltshire not taken over by the Orders of St John Trust last year.

On Tuesday Dr Jones and Coombe End project manager Sandy Lewis from Wiltshire Social Services unveiled a blueprint for the development of the site. The tentative plans include:

l A bigger care home for between 50-60 residents.

l A day centre for the elderly.

l Social Services offices.

lSheltered accommodation for younger people with disabilities.

Residents in the care home and their relatives had been briefed about the proposals in advance of Tuesday's meeting, attended by about 40 people .

Dr Jones, who is about the leave Wiltshire to take up a national appointment, told the meeting: "This is going to be a substantial project. We are not talking of thousands of pounds or even hundreds of thousands of pounds, we are talking of millions."

He added: "We are going to have to do this in partnership with other organisations because we will not be able to afford to do it ourselves."

Mrs Lewis said the facilities would have to be developed in partnership with a housing association and with care provider, possibly the Orders of St John.

She said it was hoped detailed plans would be available by next summer so that bids for external funding could be submitted by October for, hopefully, allocation of funds by January 2003.

Mrs Lewis said: "We would look to have developers on site very quickly, possibly by April 2003. It would have to be a staged development because of its size and components. In my opinion we are talking of an official opening in or around July 2004."

New offices were needed in the town for Social Services, said Mrs Lewis, to avoid people having to travel to Savernake Hospital where the offices are currently located. "This is an opportunity to get the Social Services health and care people back into Marlborough and save people having to traipse up the hill," she said.