A care workers' trade union has warned of a 'disastrous' staffing black hole in England as research showed there are tens of thousands of vacant posts.

Charity Skills for Care estimated that is a vacancy rate for care workers of 8% – more than three times the average for all jobs.

Kelly Andrews, a national officer with GMB, a union for care workers, said: ‘Years of neglect has left our care sector with a disastrous staffing black hole.

‘For years, care has been treated as a Cinderella service – when in reality this is a highly-skilled, vital job that we all rely on.

‘It's time that care workers are recognised as the skilled workers that they are – with decent wages, good training opportunities and a clear path to career progressions.

‘Without urgent action the problem is going to get worse and worse until the whole system is at risk of collapsing.'