King's Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital multi-storey car park plan approved

The multi-storey car park forms part of a plan to free up space to enable a new hospital to be built in King's Lynn to replace the current crumbling building

The first stage of a plan to rebuild a crumbling hospital has been approved.

An application for a new car park on the site of what is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's Inspire Centre in King's Lynn, has been granted by the council.

The multi-storey would free up space for a new hospital to be built on its current parking site, in the event of the government approving a rebuild bid.

The Norfolk hospital's chief executive said it was a "critical part of us being investment ready".

Hospital chief Alice Webster told councillors at a planning meeting that local people deserved a new hospital

The Queen Elizabeth opened in 1980 and was made from prefabricated concrete planks with an expected working life of 30 years.

The material is now failing and areas of the buildings are being held up by 3,478 steel and wooden props, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Hospital chief executive Alice Webster told King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council: "The application before you is for a multi-storey car park and it is the first step of our estate plan and is a critical part of us being investment ready.

"A crumbling, out-of-date estate is a significant issue for our patients, those who use our services and our staff.

"We continue to develop a case for our community to receive the news it so rightfully deserves - a new hospital."

More than 3,700 props are now in place across the hospital site

Construction of the 1,383-space car park is expected to come in two phases.

One is planned regardless of any new hospital approval and a second stage will only happen if the redevelopment is secured.