A SCANDAL-HIT care home in Brent Knoll is being shutdown as police investigate allegations of staff abusing and neglecting residents.

Mendip House is a care home in the grounds of Somerset Court which is run by the National Autism Society (NAS) and caters for six autistic residents.

The care home was rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following a series of inspections in May and June.

The scathing report found a catalogue of failings, concluding that the home was 'extremely badly managed' and staff were not meeting the 'basic needs' of residents.

Inspectors found that there were a number of allegations of abuse, neglect and degrading treatment of people with one staff member coming directly to the inspectors as they had no confidence the provider would take their concerns seriously.

Record keeping were found to be poor with some health plans not being filled in since 2013.

Inspectors also had concerns regarding residents' diets, finding a limited selection of nutritious meals and drinks available, with one resident often eating from his favoured fast food chain twice a day.

Debbie Ivanova, the CQC's deputy chief inspector of adult social care, said: "I am extremely concerned that Mendip House has failed to meet even some of the most basic needs for the people living there. These are unacceptable failings and must not be allowed to continue."

The National Autism Society released a statement saying that rather than leave the families with months of uncertainty while it tries to turn the service around, it is better for everyone's sake to close now.

NAS director Jane Harris said: "We aim to run the best possible residential services for autistic adults, where they are safe and can live a full life.

"We are very sorry that, as this report from the CQC shows, we have failed badly to live up to this at our Mendip House care home.

"It’s evident that the standards in Mendip House had been deteriorating for some time – and we should have picked this up sooner. We are now taking disciplinary action against local management and staff," she said.

"Given the depth of the problems that the CQC and our own investigation have uncovered, we have taken the difficult decision to close Mendip House and are working on this with the CQC and our other partners."

The NAS says it has already met with the families and is working with them to try and find suitable new homes for the residents.

The police investigation is still ongoing.