THE former owner of a care home which was branded a “squalid enterprise” after a resident’s death wants to turn another empty home into a nursery.

Anu Sarker has asked Glasgow City Council for permission to change the use of The Beeches Residential Home in Muirend.

If her application is approved, the building could be reopened as a day care nursery and learning centre for children.

Mrs Sarker and her husband Dr Rahda Sarker previously owned and managed the Glenglova Residential Home in Mansewood, where a 79-year-old woman died after she was admitted to hospital “dehydrated and emaciated”.

Speaking in 1994, Sheriff Daniel Convery described that home as a “squalid enterprise where frail and confused residents were kept as human livestock for money”. The home was closed and Dr Sarker was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC).

Mrs Sarker, a former teacher, said she would not be involved in running the nursery. “I am retired now, it is too big for me.”

She said she is open to selling or leasing the building, which “has been lying empty and derelict” for 15 years. “I do not have enough time to run another business. If someone wants to buy it, no problem. Whoever is running it, they will sort it all themselves. This is too big for me, I need everybody’s support.”

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She said she was a “good citizen” of Glasgow and wanted to leave a “legacy” so “children and communities can enjoy that property”.

Mrs Sarker defended the care provided at the Mansewood home, describing the accusations as “all lies”. She also rebutted the allegations during a fatal accident inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court in August 1994. Her husband pursued an ­appeal against the GMC decision to strike him off but abandoned it after three years.

Sheriff Convery had said: “Inadequate standards of heating, food, hygiene and care translate into elderly people being kept cold, hungry, dirty and miserable.”

Mrs Sarker recently told the Evening Times there was no legal action against the pair “because we are clear”. Her comments were made while she was quizzed over her ownership of a flat in Govanhill which the council plans to compulsory purchase due to its rundown state.

She also said she wants a “good price” for the flat, blaming tenants and immigrants for the state of the area.

Glasgow’s authority removed Mrs Sarker from the landlord register in August last year and issued a rent penalty notice, meaning she can’t charge rent for the property.

The Beeches was converted from a single residence to a nursing home in the 1960s. A fire in 2004 destroyed the roof and ­attic of the building as well as causing smoke and water damage to the first and ground floors. Since taking over the property in 2009, Mrs Sarker has had work carried out on the roof.

A statement, submitted with the application, states: “The owner hopes that a change in use will result in occupation of the property and justify the expenditure necessary on further repair and reinstatement works.”