A Wilmington family have been billed £4264.89 for a care home placement their granddad stayed in despite being him being rushed to hospital and nearly dying.

Jon Green, 43, said he "could not believe it" when the bill from Kent County Council arrived on their Albert Road doorstep last week.

News Shopper last week revealed the plight of Mr Green's granddad Walter Newman, 94, who suffers from vascular dementia and was admitted into Darent Valley Hospital on May 25 with pneumonia, dehydration and three high-grade pressure sores.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson has now taken up the case with KCC and wants to ensure no more people are placed in the Manordene Care Home in West Kingsdown until the investigation has been completed.

Mr Green told News Shopper: "We received the bill last week and I just thought there was no way I am paying for that, it is just unbelievable that we can be sent that after all my granddad has been through.

"The hospital has said that granddad is medically fit and we are now looking at other care home placements for him.

"We just want him to be cared for properly."

Mr Newman's family cared for him until February when his dementia got so bad that they took the heartbreaking decision to put him in a home.

The family claim staff at the Forge Lane home did not care for Mr Newman, a Second World War veteran, properly and that he was "left to die" in a room on his own.

He has lost the use of his legs since going into the home in February, even though he used a frame previously to get about.

Mr Johnson said: "The bill this family has received quite literary adds insult to injury because clearly the treatment he received ended up with him being admitted to Darent Valley Hospital.

"Clearly this is not treatment he should be paying for.

"I have already spoken to social services about it, they have reassured that no more admissions are made to the nursing home without their agreement."

A KCC spokesman added: "We will put the invoice on hold until the safeguarding investigation is completed."