WORK has started on a full-time care unit at St Teresa's Hospice in Darlington.

The cellar beneath the building on Woodlands Road has been converted into office and storage space to free up the six rooms above, which will be used as bedrooms.

The conversion has been paid for with money from the Whinfield Practice and Richardson Construction, which donated the new railings needed for the cellar.

Hospice director, Jane Bradshaw, said: "We hope everyone will rally around and support us in our aim, whether with fundraising or, as Richardson Construction has done, in a practical way."