AN ageing London taxicab bought on eBay is the latest ‘resident’ at a Poole care home.

The maroon taxi, with a whopping 270,000 miles on the clock – or ten times the circumference of the planet – was craned into position at The Aldbury home yesterday.

Staff hope the 1973 Hackney cab will help residents at the dedicated dementia care home reminisce.

Home manager Rosemarie Kuah explained how dementia sufferers often have good long-term memory, so physical memory aids help keep their minds active.

“Residents will be able to sit in the taxi, touch the interior and bodywork and remind themselves of past trips,” she said.

“This will open a stimulus for conversation with friends, family and carers.”

The taxi has taken pride of place in the garden of the Ringwood Road home.

Mrs Kuah said: “It is also a bright navigational feature that will help people, who can be disorientated at times, to feel comfortable and explore the garden. It has joined our other dementia-friendly features such as a summer house, potting shed and wildlife section.”

The LTI Fairway cab was purchased, via eBay, from a collector in Winchester. It was fully taxed and was driven to Colton Care’s Lymington head office.

Colton Care’s transport manager John Carter said: “It is a genuine Hackney taxi cab. Just think of all the people who have sat in the back since the 1970s and the stories it could tell.”

In the coming weeks Colton Care is due to install a 1958 Hillman Minx in the garden of one of its other dementia homes, Fernhill in Ferndown.