A 75-bed hospital being built on the outskirts of Wellington should be ready for occupation in July.

Montpelier Estates, which is building the hospital at Chelston, says it is on schedule to complete the project on time but it is unlikely to be fully operational until later in the year.

It is now more than four years since Montpelier won planning permission to build a medium and low-secure treatment rehabilitation hospital for patients with a broad range of mental health problems, ranging from learning disability and acquired brain injury to acute mental illness.

The hospital, which will be staffed by 225 when fully operational, is needed because the South-West has the lowest provision of secure beds for such patients in England.

The hospital is costing £20 million to build and is expected to generate between £4 and £5 million a year for the local economy.

Many of the jobs will be for specialists but a number will be for the unskilled who will require ‘training support from local educational establishments’.

The building of the hospital is another boost to the local economy with Chelston being of particular interest to businesses because of its closeness to the M5.

Wellington is also building lots of new houses which will be an attraction for those who will work at the hospital which will become one of the town’s biggest employers.