A home care service set up after the closure of a convalescent home is closing down itself due to staffing problems.

Renaissance Care was established by Catherine Gennaro, the former manager of the French Convalescent Home in Kemp Town, Brighton, and her staff last year.

The service, based in Edward Street, Brighton, had more than 100 elderly clients and offered support and practical help with gardening, shopping and some personal care.

However, the service has been blighted by an inability to attract enough high-quality, dedicated staff to work for the wages the job pays.

Mrs Gennaro attempted to save the service by applying for charity status, which would enable her to attract extra funding, but the status was not granted in time for the service to continue.

It will be wound down during the next month and letters have been sent to its clients.

Mrs Genarro and the staff who have been running the service are devastated. She said: "I'm really, really sad that I can't make it work. I wanted to make it work but I don't know where to go from here."

The home care service started after the French Convalescent Home was closed down.

It had been the centre of a controversy when Bovis announced plans to pull down the home two years ago and replace it with a sheltered housing development.

After a vigorous campaign by The Argus, the building was listed and the developers abandoned the plans.

Despite this, the home's French trustees still closed the business, forcing dozens of residents to move elsewhere.

Mrs Gennaro and former colleagues tried desperately to get Renaissance to work but, despite advertising widely, she could not attract staff of a high enough calibre to carry out the work for the money such services can afford to pay.

Other companies offering a similar service in the city have faced similar problems, admitting that people could work in supermarkets for the same money and less hassle.

Mrs Gennaro said: "I can't get good staff. I could if I could pay them more but there isn't the sort of money in this business to do that. I wanted to pay a daily rate but they get paid per client and travel expenses."

This means staff have to use their own time to reach clients for about £5 per client.

She praised support she received from social services and other agencies and said it was only because most of the staff had worked with her at the French Convalescent Home that the service had continued.

She said: "I'm glad my former staff from the convalescent home were with me. They've been absolutely brilliant."