A WALK-IN health centre for Darlington is to be bigger than first planned.

Darlington Primary Care Trust's £1m headquarters at Dr Piper House, in King Street, is due to open in December.

A meeting of the trust's board heard the facility would be larger and offer more services than originally proposed.

It will open every day of the year, from 7am to 10pm, offering treatments and advice for minor injuries and ailments.

Nurse-led clinics are expected to deal with 80 to 100 patients a day.

The centre will complement services at Darlington Memorial Hospital's accident and emergency department and GP practices.

The ground floor will also house skin and minor surgery clinics, and specialist services for diabetes and asthma.

Darlington's director of primary care, Carole Harder, said the centre would have a major impact, offering an alternative to existing services and increasing access, particularly to people who would normally have to take time off work to access primary care.