PLANS have been submitted to expand a Kingsteignton care home.

Penns Mount residential home in Vicarage Hill wants to create an extension wing to care for treble the current number of residents.

In a statement to Teignbridge Council planners, the company says there is a need to redevelop the existing home to provide larger and more modern facilities to meet the requirements of legislation and its residents.

And there is a need to provide care for an increasingly elderly population in Teignbridge.

It says: ‘This proposal provides a modern and viable multiple care facility in an area with very high levels of elderly people.

‘Homes of this current size have closed because they cannot cope with the level of modern care required and scale is a serious issue with dedicated teams of well qualified, trained carers.

‘The proposal is needed to allow the level of care here to be improved for the current residents and to secure the long term future of the use which is an important community facility that provides for the most vulnerable in our society.’

The existing home provides care for 22 residents, dementia care and physical disability.

An existing small bungalow near the entrance is currently used as an extra care unit and this will remain.

The proposal is to demolish an existing bungalow and add a new wing.

A decision is expected in December.