HEALTH chiefs, councillors and Pershore people gathered to mark a "momentous day" in the town's history yesterday - the cutting of the first turf marking the start of building work on the new Pershore Hospital and Medical Centre.

The occasion put an end to years of uncertainty

over whether the town would ever get the new health provision it has been fighting for.

The three-storey building, which will cost £6m, will be situated on land next to Pershore Civic Centre.

It has been paid for by Wychavon District Council and will be rented out to South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust.

It will house a health centre on the ground floor, the hospital on the second floor and offices on the third.

The hospital will include 26 beds, physiotherapy, audiology, ophthalmology units and a children's ward.

The new health centre, which will replace the existing Pershore Health Centre, will increase the number of GPs from eight to 13 and will include a range of ancillary services including a minor injuries unit.

Speaking at the ceremony yesterday, Councillor Judy Pearce said it was a momentous day.

"We at Wychavon believe this is the first partnership project of its kind between a local authority and a primary care trust to provide facilities for the real and lasting benefit of local communities," she said.

"Nearly 110 years after the opening of the Cottage Hospital we mark the start of works on the new hospital and look forward to the official opening next year."

Mike Ridley, chief executive of the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, was delighted work on the hospital was starting.

"This is a major step forward to the reality of a new medical complex in Pershore for patients and also will provide much improved working conditions for staff," he said.

Michael Amies, vice chairman of Pershore Hospital League of Friends which has raised more than £500,000 to help equip the hospital, said it was a day he sometimes thought would never arrive.

"We are very happy to have at last reached this point," he added.

The building work is scheduled for completion in September 2006.