Councillors have said it is “essential” for a local representative to be a part of the decision on the take over the All Hallows Healthcare Trust.

Concerned residents attended an extraordinary full council meeting to discuss the current state of the service on Thursday, April 11.

The meeting, held at the Riverside centre in Bungay, invited family members of those reliant on All Halllows Healthcare Trust to discuss the current situation of the service and how the council will react going forward.

As it stands, 10 providers have expressed interest in the vital service which operates a 30 bed hospital, a 50 bed nursing home, a domiciliary care service and a day care service, with deputy mayor of Bungay, Sue Collins saying: "Some of them are looking at making provisions for the whole service some are looking for part of it."

A meeting will also be held today (Friday) which will include a representative from the CCG and various members from local parishes.

The meeting will be chaired by Bungay Town Reeve and president of the Friends of All Hallows, Sylvia Knights and will discuss the future of the service and aims to "give more answers".

"We are hoping then there will be greater clarity," Councillor Collins said.

Bungay mayor Mick Lincoln said that "it is absolutely essential" to have a community member on the panel as it is important to keep all the services.

"We won't take this lying down, we want to preserve services and all of them together, we want them on the site, we want them here - we don't want them dispersed," he said.

Graham Bell, whose family member is in the care of All Hallows said: "We had this 45 day period and unfortunately we have to move our step son on Tuesday because we have had no answers on any suppliers - we have nobody to give us answers."

Last month, All Hallows Healthcare Trust announced it was facing closure due to financial difficulties.

A campaign group, "Save the All Hallows" has formed and organised a peaceful protests, hand holds, public meetings as well as a slow walk in Bungay – the group's latest effort to save the service this Saturday.