A MILESTONE has been reached in the project to bring a cancer care centre to Worcestershire.

The first bricks have been laid on the county’s state-of-the-art radiotherapy centre, based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Worcester, by Harry Turner, chairman of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The building will take 13 weeks to assemble. Construction of the steel structure and concrete bunkers, housing x-ray machines, has already been completed.

Lend Lease construction staff will now work to complete the brickwork and the roof works.

The new centre will provide radiotherapy treatment for the county’s cancer patients and will save patients about one million miles of travel every year.

Mr Turner said: “It’s great to see how fast the building is taking shape. It’s really encouraging to think our vision to improve cancer services for patients will soon be a reality.”