FAMILIES and staff at a North-East residential home which is facing closure are preparing for a battle to keep it open.

More than 70 residents of Nazareth House, in Middlesbrough, face losing their home when the Roman Catholic-run building closes.

Families say that some of the residents were brought up in the house - which is the only Catholic nursing home in the Teesside area - when it was an orphanage, between 1880 and 1984.

At least one resident had returned to the house for care in her old age after being taken in as an orphan when she was a baby.

The daughter of another resident, who did not want to be named, said: "Even the least mobile residents are wheeled down to the chapel for Mass. They just would not get that kind of treatment anywhere else.

"Nazareth House is not just a care home. It has been there forever. I, along with hundreds of others, took presents there for the orphans when I was at school.

"Many of the residents there have dedicated their lives working within their various parishes. Nazareth House seemed to be the way the Catholic Church said 'thank you', and 'you are not forgotten'."

Staff, residents and families were in tears on Friday when they were told the home would be closing in about a year's time. Families are calling for the Diocese of Middlesbrough to "dig into its deep pockets" for funds to keep the home open.

Nazareth House is one of a number of residential homes throughout the country owned and run by Catholic nuns, the Sisters of Nazareth.

The Victorian building, which has been a residential home since 1984, will be sold and the proceeds used to upgrade the Sisters' remaining facilities in line with Government guidelines for nursing homes, which come into force in 2007.

Sister Hilary Marrinan, the Superior General of the Sisters of Nazareth, said: "Due to the shortage of vocations and the increasing age of our Sisters, we have had to make some hard and painful decisions regarding the future of our houses."

The Bishop of Middlesbrough, the Right Reverend John Crowley, said: "The Sisters of Nazareth have served in the diocese of Middlesbrough quite wonderfully over many years, and their departure will be a huge loss on many levels to the local community.