BUILDING work has started on the £3.5m expansion to The Rivers Hospital in Sawbridgeworth.

The development will include a third operating theatre, parking for almost 100 cars, 12 new in-patient rooms and improvements to the telephone system and pharmacy department.

This is the third and biggest extension the hospital has had since its opening in March 1992, and it is expected to take about a year to finish.

It is estimated the hospital extension will create 50 new jobs, mainly for professional staff.

As well as allowing the hospital to treat more patients it is hoped the work will enable the hospital to make more use of the pharmacy which already provides many local hospitals with special chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer patients.

The project was officially started last Friday when Community Hospitals Group plc chief executive Alan Pilgrim cut the first sod in a special ceremony.

Nicola Thorp, business development manager for The Rivers Hospital, said: "We are very pleased with this funding from Community Hospitals Group.

"It will help us to provide a high quality service for local patients in avoiding waiting times and giving immediate access to health care."