ELDERLY and disabled residents fear they could be left vulnerable if wardens are axed in a shake-up of sheltered housing services.

Tenants at Weymouth and Portland Housing (WPH) properties have been told of plans to remove wardens from sites across the borough and replace them with visiting support staff.

It comes as the parent company Synergy Housing Group undergoes phase two of its restructuring programme, with 75 jobs at risk across the group – which also covers East Dorset and the Isle of Purbeck.

It is believed that the majority of remaining staff based at the company’s offices in Lynch Lane, Weymouth, are being forced to relocate to Ferndown.

One elderly man rang the Echo in tears after hearing the warden at his sheltered housing unit was being axed.

He said: “We are all really fearful of the future. The warden is always there when we need her and now all we have is a ring-pull that will be answered by someone miles away.

“Everyone here is either elderly or disabled or both, and we really need the help and reassurance that the warden brings.

“We are feeling abandoned and let down and we can’t seem to get any answers from the housing association. Some people really are desperate.”

Residents at WPH’s Rochester Court in Westham said they were worried that if staff are relocated to Ferndown, they will take longer to respond to emergencies.

Norah Riley-Jones, 66, said: “People are apprehensive about the future.

“In an ideal world it would be nice to have someone on hand.

“At the moment we have a warden from 8am until 2pm – under the new scheme it might just be people going around visiting. We have to pay for whatever service we have.

“We’ve obviously got the Purbeck Careline chord for emergencies but some older residents are going to really miss the warden.”

She added: “Obviously it’s all down to budgets and the recession.

“Sheltered housing officers are concerned about their jobs.

“We’ve all been consulted about the changes and Synergy are definitely trying really hard to keep a high level of service.” New resident John Bowler, 76, said: “My wife and I don’t need a warden but in a lot of cases elderly residents want and need somebody here.

“We had a meeting on Monday last week but we still don’t know what days a replacement would work.

“If they’re coming from Ferndown it could take a lot longer but everything’s going that way now, even when we phone up for repairs.”

Chapelhay resident Margaret Hallett, who lives with her mentally handicapped son Christopher, said: “What’s the point in people being based in Ferndown? None of the local staff will want to drive there every day.

“If there’s an emergency and we call them, a) they’ll be doing a job up there, b) it’ll take and hour-and-a-half for them to get here, especially in the summer, and c) they won’t know the area so they’ll have to find out where we are.

“At the moment, I can call up Weymouth and Portland Housing and get instant service.

“When my hot water stopped working, they came instantly, were polite and cleaned up behind themselves.

“If they move they’re going to have a lot of problems.

“I don’t see how it will help residents in Weymouth and Portland.

“Also the older residents feel better if they know someone’s calling in every day.

“We’re a big community here so why are they taking the service away to be based in East Dorset?”

A former member of staff who wished to remain anonymous said: “I think it is quite unbelievable.

“All the 30 or so staff in Weymouth face losing their jobs or having to travel all the way to Ferndown.

“But it is the residents who are most at risk. They really have been left in the dark and don’t know what is going on.

“There have been some meetings but all the elderly tenants I see seem to have been left even more confused at the end of it. “They are used to having a dedicated worker.”