A TURF cutting ceremony today marks the official start of building work on the £21m redevelopment of parts of the Friarage Hospital at Northallerton.

The ceremony was to be performed by Glenys Marriott, chairman of South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Friarage, and Sue Young, chairman of Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust.

The redevelopment, which should be finished by the summer of 2006, will cover paediatrics, the neo-natal unit, women's health, pathology, a shop for the Friends of the Friarage, a new hospital street and service gantry and refurbishment of the main entrance.

It means demolishing the wooden huts which have housed some core clinical services since the war.

Temporary traffic and car parking arrangements have been introduced as part of the redevelopment, with two separate entrances for visitors and patients wishing to park their cars.

Drivers going into the main entrance in Bullamoor Road, opposite Hambleton Forum, arel no longer able to follow the road all the way round to the visitors' car park at the back of the site.

They need to get on to the A684, the route to and from the A19, and turn into Brompton Road, leading to Byland Avenue. Temporary traffic signs are being erected.

Some parking spaces, including the accident and emergency stop-off points, are still available at the front of the hospital through the main entrance.