THE former bosses of a Stourton care home have been disqualified after they diverted council funds before abandoning elderly residents and staff.

Husband and wife directors of Elysian Care Limited, Darren William Lloyd, aged 53, and Emma Lloyd, aged 49, have been banned for a total of eight-and-a-half years, while Darren’s brother, Adrian Jeffrey Lloyd, aged 50, has been disqualified for five years.

All three directors of the care company, which ran The Homestead at Prestwood, along with Knoll House at Penn, near Wolverhampton, have been banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company after signing disqualification undertakings.

The company was incorporated in January 1997 to purchase and operate residential care home Knoll House. It later acquired The Homestead off the A449 Wolverhampton Road at Prestwood, Stourton, and another home which it sold in 2011.

Elysian Care, however, began to struggle financially and in addition to not providing adequate services to the residents, the company failed to pay key suppliers and staff.

By September 2014, Darren, Adrian and Emma Lloyd - all from Wolverhampton - abandoned The Homestead and Knoll House, leaving local authorities to step in and make emergency payments to ensure residents were cared for.

As part of their efforts to rescue Elysian Care, the company’s bankers’ appointed administrators, who went onto to report to the Insolvency Service that Darren, Adrian and Emma were responsible for several instances of misconduct.

Darren Lloyd instructed a member of staff to provide new bank details to the local authority responsible for paying the fees of some of the residents of Knoll House.

The local authority, however, was not informed that the bank account they were paying into was in the name of Darren Lloyd.

In total, more than £500,000 of residents' fees provided by the local authority between September 2012 and October 2014 was paid into Darren Lloyd’s personal bank account.

More than £290,000 of which has not been accounted for nor has it been explained whether it was spent on the running of Elysian Care or the elderly residents in the homes.

Further enquiries confirmed the trio abandoned the two care homes and left no funds to provide services for at least 30 residents.

Staff had to buy essential supplies out of their own pockets, while the two local authorities had to make emergency payments to support the residents.

One local authority had to step in to reimburse staff wages, as well as pay for food and hygiene provisions, while the second council was forced to relocate the residents.

And all three directors were remiss in maintaining sufficient books and records, while also failing to supply a statement of affairs to the administrator.

The trio contested the proceedings for more than three years but elected to accept disqualification undertakings before their trial was due.

Emma Lloyd was the first to have the ban come into effect on February 14 and her disqualification lasts for three-and-a-half years. Darren Lloyd’s five-year ban came into effect on February 19, while his brother’s ban was effective a day later.

David Brooks, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: "Darren, Adrian and Emma Lloyd were unscrupulous care home bosses. Not only were they culpable for diverting more than £500,000 of funds intended for the care of their residents but they abandoned the people they were responsible for and left staff and local authorities to step in and pick up the pieces.

"Directors are expected to operate in the best interest of the company and by removing Darren, Adrian and Emma from the corporate arena will ensure their victims will be protected from further harm."

The Homestead closed in November 2014 after administrators were called in - with its 25 residents left to seek new places to live and 21 staff were made redundant. It was later revamped and reopened by Completelink Limited and renamed Prestwood Lodge.