The effect of the closure of the River View care home is that the journey for families to visit their loved ones in the homes to which they are relocated will be a more difficult.

Dartmouth Caring intends to expand its volunteer hospital driver scheme to include support for relatives who will struggle to visit a family member affected by the closure.

Nick Hindmarsh manager Dartmouth Caring said: “We know there are local people affected. In addition we will also extend the service to those who find it difficult to visit those family members who would have received intermediate care at River View and who are now placed outside the town and local villages.

“As with the existing hospital service our ability to offer this depends upon our pool of volunteer drivers the charity is therefore very keen to hear from anyone who would like to join us by and donating just a little of their time to this worthy cause.

“Training and support is given to volunteers, to ensure that they and those they work with get the best possible deal.”

Dartmouth Caring is a charity set up to help and support the elderly and vulnerable in Dartmouth and its surrounding villages. The charity started life as a simple transport bureau and then became a registered charity in November 1989. It now works closely with the statutory services and its community to provide effective local support.