Five people have been arrested as part of a police investigation into the Covid deaths of 20 care home residents.

An independent Registration and Inspection investigation into Abbotswood Nursing Home in Ballasalla was put on hold in June when police were called in.

In a letter to residents’ relatives, police said they had interviewed five people over suspected ’criminal and/or health and safety offences’.

A police spokesman confirmed the information detailed in the letter but said the force ’will not be making any more comment on the investigation’.

The letter from Detective Inspector Mark Newey reads: ’The compiling of the report and associated documentation is already under way for us to seek independent UK advice on the matter.

’The individuals have all been bailed to mid-February to allow sufficient time for this to take place.’

Abbotswood became the centre of a coronavirus outbreak in April.

Some 47 of Abbotwod residents tested positive for the virus, including 20 whose lives were claimed, two of these in Noble’s Hospital.

The DHSC took over the running of Abbotswood on Easter Monday after suspending its licence. The remaining residents were moved out in May.