WORK started this week to breathe new life into historic Patford House and give Calne a new doctors' surgery.

GPs' working conditions have reached crisis point, according to Dr Paul Harris of Elm Grove Surgery, whose doctors will eventually move into the listed building.

Dr Harris and his colleague Dr Jeanne Taudevin are stuggling in cramped conditions, with only one consulting room.

"I have to do my paperwork in the car," he said.

The surgery is oversubscribed and turning new patients away.

Now a repair grant of £99,000 from English Heritage and £550,000 of funding from North Wiltshire District Council, which owns the building, will give Patford House a new lease of life.

Dr Harris said the collaboration was the first of its kind.

"This will give us the capacity to grow alongside Calne, taking on extra doctors when they are required, and providing a flexible primary health care facility for the town," he said.

The building in Patford Street consists of a main house and cottage which have both lain empty for five years.

A spokesman for the district council said: "It is essential that the building be put to good use as soon as possible to avoid any further deterioration of the building and to preserve its historic fabric."

Dr Harris said the change of use would bring Patford House full circle it was the house and surgery for a Calne doctor in the 18th century as well.

The lease was signed last week and building and restoration work started on Monday.

It is hoped Patford House will be ready for use by November 2001.