WORK on a new hospital multi-storey car park is 'progressing well' - with a completion date set for summer 2022.

Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester was allocated £62 million government funding to expand its emergency and intensive care services to meet demand.

The development, off Williams Avenue, is set to provide more than 650 car-park spaces to help ease the pressure on the emergency department, which was designed for 22,000 patients a year - but was dealing with nearly 50,000 people prior to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The car park development, which started on January 4, is being built to free up land in order to expand the emergency department and Intensive Care Unit and establishing an Integrated Care Hub.

A spokeswoman from Dorset County Hospital said: "The project team have confirmed the work is progressing well and on course for completion as planned in summer 2022."

Mayor and Poundbury councillor Richard Biggs said: "It's really great to see building work progressing at pace at DCH.

"The hospital is so important to the town and the wider community.

"The expansion is most welcome."

As part of the project, members of the public voted in their thousands to decide what artwork should be used on the sides of the new car park.

The metal facades will be added to three sides of the building and feature images of landscapes and landmarks across Dorset - a theme chosen by hospital staff to illustrate the hospital’s catchment area.

The top three choices were photos of Portland Bill, Durdle Door and Corfe Castle, which will be used to create images on perforated metal panels to cover elevations of the multi-storey car park.

To date, the contractor Willmott Dixon have imported stone at a rate of 300t per day to build up the level of the playing field by 300mm.

The main groundworks will be completed by the end of summer 2021, allowing the steel erection to take place and the phased installation of the parking floors. Once the steel erection is complete, the aluminium artwork façade installation can commence. While the aluminium artwork façade is going up, Willmott Dixon will complete the fit-out and remaining external works.