Netley Military Hospital restoration delay after contractor goes bust

Sick and wounded soldiers from across the world were treated at the hospital on the site from 1863 until 1966

Work has temporarily stopped on a project to conserve part of the British Army's first military hospital after a building firm went into administration.

Netley chapel at Royal Victoria Country Park, near Southampton is the last remaining part of the purpose-built hospital.

Hampshire County Council said it would have an impact on the completion date.

The authority said an alternative contractor was being sought with work due to restart "as soon as possible".

The £2.8m project includes restoring the hand-painted glass windows and a new exhibition of the site's history.

Work started on the chapel in August, with the project due for completion by summer 2017.

The Royal Victoria Hospital on the waterfront at Netley - most of the building was demolished in 1966 following an extensive fire

The three-storey hospital, which overlooks Southampton Water, opened in 1893.

The Royal Victoria was a personal project of Queen Victoria who laid the hospital's foundation stone on 19 May 1856.

It had its own railway station and corridors over a quarter of a mile long from one end of the hospital to the other.

The hospital cared for more than 1,000 soldiers returning from wars across the world.

Most of the building was demolished in 1966 following an extensive fire.