UNION members will hold a protest in Dorchester over the proposed closure of a Dorset care home.

Members of the Unison union will lobby Dorset county councillors arriving for a cabinet meeting on Monday to protest at plans to close Phoenix House in Blandford.

The union claims the facility only recently cost nearly £5million to open, including £4.219million in building costs, with the centre opening in the spring of 2012.

It comes after another council-run care home, Douglas Jackman House in Dorchester, was closed last year.

Unison regional officer Alan Martin said: “The decision on whether to cut more public services will be made on Monday at Cabinet.

“It is only months since Douglas Jackman House was closed and already, another public service for the most vulnerable in society is planned for closure.”

He added: “Unison is trying to defend not just the jobs of our members but the services they deliver too.”