A £500,000 purpose-built ambulance station is to open in Middlesbrough in April.

The station, which is being built at the Fulcrum Centre, Acklam Road, will replace the former one, about half-a-mile away in Ayresome Green Lane.

As a part of the Middlesbrough General Hospital site, which has now closed, the former building has been sold and the whole site will be redeveloped.

Staff have been involved in the design and layout of the new building, which has four heated garages with electrically operated doors, a rest-room, kitchen, locker room, showers, office space and improved security.

Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (Tenyas) chief executive Jayne Barnes said: "With the redevelopment of the hospital site, it was a case of us having to move.

"The new site is well placed in terms of our response-time targets, and we have taken every opportunity to provide a modern and comfortable base for our staff.

"They are part of the project team and have been consulted at every stage of development.

"This is the first new ambulance station for Teesside since it became part of Tenyas in 1999.

"The project was jointly financed from the sale of the existing station, together with funding from the County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority."