Vulnerable pensioners face an anxious Christmas as they wait to see if their close-knit community will be split up and their home demolished.

Residents of sheltered accommodation at Waters Square in Kingston have been told their home could be torn down and replaced with more social housing.

But the 16 people left in the half-empty home will have to wait until the new year when a formal decision is made by Kingston Council’s executive members.

Bruce Parker, 65, met his Lithuanian wife Aldona in the home where he has lived for eight years after a spell sleeping on the streets.

He said: “This place has helped me get my life back together, but the atmosphere is awful here now.

“It is a very uncertain time at the moment, but we will make the best of it.”

Eamon Collender, 69, a former barrister, who has lived in his flat for eight years, said he was worried about the effect on fellow residents if it was closed.

He said: “I want to stay. I can cross the road and go to the shops independently.

“I will miss this place more than I can admit. It has been diabolical.”

Residents have been told they will be pushed to the top of the housing lists for an alternative home after the decision is made.

Councillor Frances Moseley, who announced the likely closure at a meeting in October, said the home had shared bathrooms, did not meet modern standards and the council did not have the money to keep it maintained.

She said: “Having said that, it is people’s homes.

“The delay in the formal decision has added to people’s concerns and I’m really sorry for that.”

She said that people who are friends had asked to be rehoused together and not split up and promised the council would try to do the “right things”.