THE FINISHING touches have been added to a new £6m care home in central Banbury.

The 73-bed purpose built Highmarket House in North Bar Place will welcome its first residents from Monday, September 25.

Featuring a cinema and cafe, the new home has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives whist retaining their independence.

Owner Care UK said that it has designed the layout of the building to 'facilitate the creation of close knit communities'.

Each bedroom will have an en-suite bathroom, together with a flat-screen television, adjustable profile bed, and a 24-hour call system.

Before the new residents move in, the care home is opening its doors from Friday, September 22, to Sunday, September 24 and inviting people to see what it looks like inside.

Between 10am and 4pm, members of the public can drop in to take a tour around the completed care home, as well as meet the team at Highmarket House, including home manager Julia Hedley and customer relations manager, Sally Matthews.

Ms Matthews said: “We are looking forward to welcoming the first residents to their new home.

"We are really proud of the environment that has been created, and every last detail here has been considered to create a high-quality, luxury care home which will enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives.

“The open days will give visitors the chance to see the care home for themselves and to talk to the team, while also getting insight into what day-to-day life will be like at Highmarket House.

"They can also find out more about the kind of activities that will be on offer.”

Children from Dashwood Out of School Club have helped to name the suites at the care home.

They will be known as the ‘Cromwell Suite’, after the Cromwell Lodge Hotel; the ‘Ermont Suite’, because Banbury is twinned with Ermont in France; the ‘Bradley Suite’, after PC James Roy Bradley who was killed whilst on duty in Banbury in 1967; the ‘Franklin Suite’ after Thomas Franklin, who is the grandson of Benjamin Franklin and buried in Banbury; and the ‘Dashwood Suite’, after the club itself.