Leadon Bank home for the elderly is to be demolished and rebuilt by new owners Shaw Healthcare, a project due to start this autumn and end in April 2006.

Shaw will take over the operation of the Ledbury home from Herefordshire Council in April with the intention to demolish it.

In its place will be special flats for the residents, called extra care units, and a new respite unit for short-stay pensioners, who will eventually be returned to their own homes.

Despite the massive changes and re-structuring of services, Shaw's chief executive Jeremy Nixey said that existing staff jobs at Leadon Bank would be preserved and that that the number of residents at the home would remain almost the same.

Mr Nixey promised the same kind of facilities as are there now, albeit updated, together with "a combination of almost hotel-type services".

New facilities will include a health spa pool and a restaurant for communal meals, for those who require it.

Mr Nixey said a planning application for the work would be submitted to Herefordshire Council in the next three months.

The council issued a statement this week, saying proposed work would cause minimum disruption for residents.

Stephanie Canham, the council's head of social care, said: "The transition to a new facility will be a gradual process, and residents, relatives and staff are being kept informed every step of the way.

"The care and safety of residents is our number one priority and we're doing everything possible to keep disruption to existing users to a minimum. The new accommodation will be an improvement on existing buildings."

Eddie Clark, county branch secretary for the public services union Unison, said: "They certainly haven't been in talks about these proposals with staff and we would want to see these proposals put to us."

Former Ledbury mayor Spencer Lane did know about the plans, but only though private talks with Shaw, because a relative is a resident.

He said: "It's up to Hereford-shire Council to tell the residents, the relatives and the town what these proposals are. My main concern is not knowing what is planned for my mother-in-law. Nothing has dropped through our door yet and there's a lot more involved than bricks and mortar."

The mayor of Ledbury, Coun Keith Francis, said: "This is a major development and I would expect, as a minimum, a consultation meeting with a display.

"Until further details come out, I do have major worries and fear an erosion of the facilities currently available."

Shaw will take on the running and development of a number of care homes from the council, including Froome Bank at Bromyard.

Mr Nixey said developments there could be more of a "refinement and evolution of the service".