Elderly people living in a sheltered housing block will be evicted to make way for the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration scheme.

The Rosa Freedman Centre, in Claremont Way, Cricklewood will be torn down next year so the area can be redeveloped.

A day centre on the site will close on July 24, and the 25 residents currently living in the sheltered housing, run by Barnet Homes, will be moved to sheltered blocks across the borough.

A care home at the centre, run by the Fremantle Trust, closed last October.

David Howard, chairman of the Federation of Residents’ Associations of Barnet, criticised the plans.

He said: “It is breaking up a community of people who, by virtue of age and condition, need looking after. Breaking up a home where you have got elderly people, when you are their age, it is very disruptive. When you are older, it is harder to make new friendships.

“If you couldn’t even keep the home together, you could consider moving them en masse, or waiting until a new one was built. They will be given a roof over their head, which is a bureaucratic solution, but where is the humanity?"

A spokesman for Barnet Homes, which manages the sheltered housing, said: “The sheltered housing provision will not be stopped until all residents have been successfully and happily rehoused by Barnet Homes.

“We are in the process of rehousing the sheltered housing residents at the moment and are supporting them at every step throughout the process.”

Gloria Haynes, head of services for older people at the Fremantle Trust, which runs the day centre, said: “The care and wellbeing of those using the services we operate remains our absolute priority.

"As such, staff have worked incredibly hard to ensure those who have been or will be affected by the moves, including all of those who use these services and their relatives, have remained fully informed throughout the entire process.

“Our Rosa Freedman care home closed some months ago and I’m pleased to say that everybody transferred very safely to other care homes in the area.

“We are currently in the process of finalising arrangements for the closure of the Rosa Freedman day centre on July 24. People are still using this service without disruption and have been offered a choice in alternative facilities in the Finchley and Southgate areas.

“’Next step’ meetings for both staff and family members have always been well attended, and dates and provisions have been communicated well in advance.”