NEARLY 200 jobs will be created by two new care homes costing more than £15m.

Work has already started on the 56-bed St Catherine’s View in Stanmore Lane, Winchester, and a 60-bed home is due to replace the old Linden House complex in New Street, Lymington.

The two new “dementia care” centres will help cope with a sharp rise in the number of people in Hampshire suffering from the condition.

Experts say the figure for Hampshire will exceed 70,000 by 2021.

The £7m St Catherine’s View complex will employ 80 people and is due to open next spring.

Linden House will be demolished and replaced by a £8.5m building that will provide jobs for up to 100 people when it opens in the summer of 2013.

The two new care homes are being built by the award-winning Colten Care company, which already employs 1,300 people in Hampshire and neighbouring counties.