Residents at The Newstead Nursing Home, in Highgate, have suffered long-term harm through inadequate treatment, according to their lawyers.

The home, in Denewood Road, is due to close after a damning report by the Care Quality Commission last December.

It found residents were “at risk of poor nutrition, dehydration and choking”.

The son of one elderly woman, from north west London, who does not wish to be identified, claims his mother suffered weight loss and two episodes of pressure sores while in the home.

He was so concerned about her condition, including dehydration, an untreated infection and inadequate pain control, that he called an ambulance which took her to the Whittington Hospital, where she was admitted for five weeks for treatment.

The father of an anonymous 30-year-old north London coma patient claims that his daughter’s face was scratched by staff who failed to wear protective gloves and she suffered severe bed sores.

Both families are being represented by law firm Leigh Day.

Head of the firm’s abuse team, Alison Millar, said: “I am shocked, as anyone would be, by the appalling care standards that the Care Quality Commission reported.”

Mr Sukhi Gidar, owner of Goldcare, which runs the home, declined to comment