THE admissions policy of a new extra care scheme for the elderly has been called into question after a pensioner was refused a place.

The family of 92-year-old Betty Spencer are angry that she was not admitted into the new Sycamore Hall facility, in Bainbridge, North Yorkshire.

Mrs Spencer is a former resident of High Hall care home, also in Bainbridge, which is closing.

Her family believed that she, along with all other High Hall residents, would be moved to the new facility.

But social service bosses said her needs were too complex for the extra care home.

Instead, she has been transferred more than 15 miles away to a nursing home in Ingleton, Cumbria.

Her nephew, Robert Ward, from Hawes, said: "She has been shunted off in great distress to another district. Despite assurances to the opposite, I was told she could not be cared for at the new super village, Sycamore Hall."

Councillor John Blackie, who has looked into the issue on behalf of the family, said he was disappointed that the pensioner's needs could not be met at the new facility.

He said it was his understanding that Sycamore Hall would provide a wider level of care than was previously available at High Hall.

Coun Blackie has asked for assurances that in future it will be able to accommodate residents needing a high level of care.

Neil Revely, assistant director of commissioning and partnerships for North Yorkshire County Council, said that "exceptional circumstances" had led to one High Hall resident having to be transferred elsewhere.

He said extra care schemes were intended to cater for pensioners with a full range of needs.

The first stage of the extra care housing scheme in Bainbridge has already been completed.

When the second stage is finished, High Hall will be closed and converted - along with a nearby council depot - into affordable housing.