THE building of the new Savernake Hospital at Marlborough has reached another milestone with the steel frame of the main building beginning to take shape.

Specialist sub contractors are well on the way to assembling the jigsaw of more than 1,000 pieces of steel that comprise the framework of the £9m hospital.

The frame should take about four weeks to complete and then the roof, floor decking and staircases will be installed.

Hospital rebuilding project manager Ian McLellan said: "Marlborough has waited a long time for this redevelopment and it is now beginning to become a reality.

"This is a really exciting phase of the work as we can see the new hospital begin to take shape."

The new building stands behind the Grade II listed original hospital that will be used for administration.

Refurbishment is about to start on the separate day hospital and physiotherapy area.

Mr McLellan said: "The work is planned so all services can remain operational throughout. However we accept it will cause some inconvenience and we apologise for this."

Chiltern Securities won the contract to build the new hospital for the Kennet and North Wilts Primary Care Trust. The main contractors are AMEC.

The new two-storey building will house 35 intermediate care beds, 12 beds for older people and facilities for outpatients, X ray and minor injuries .