WORK will begin in weeks on a £45 million state-of-the-art heart unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital after the Department of Health gave the go-ahead.

The new unit, which will serve patients from across Lancashire and South Cumbria, is expected to open in 2006.

A 'business case' for the new development was approved by the Department of Health this week.

It will enable the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre NHS Hospitals Trust to double the number of procedures it is carrying out and cut waiting times.

The unit will include five cardiac operating theatres, four cardiac catheter laboratories, a 20-bed intensive care unit, more than 100 ward beds, an x-ray room and an out-patients department.

Consultant cardiologist, Dr Anoop Chauhan, the hospital's clinical director for cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery said he believes it will make a real difference to patients.

"Once the centre is up an running our capacity will increase significantly," said Dr Chauhan: "We will be able to double the number of heart procedures we carry out which will lead to shorter waiting times for patients.

"The overall environment will also improve for patients and staff as it will feature the most state-of-the-art equipment and facilities."

The trust's director of facilities, Mike Gallagher, said: "We are delighted that the final business case has been approved which means that we can press ahead with the building work. We have already created a multi-storey car park to expand our car park facilities and replace spaces that will be lost when we build the cardiac centre.

"The next phase involves building a ring road and clearing the site. The final phase will be the main development of the cardiac centre."

Work on the road is scheduled to start next month.