WEAR Valley residents have their first chance to comment on a new £7m mental health unit when an information roadshow opens tomorrow.

It will be housed in the maternity unit at Bishop Auckland General Hospital and will have 52 beds and 30 day places for elderly mentally ill (EMI) patients, which is an increase on the present provision.

It will replace three facilities at Homelands Hospital, near Crook, the Lady Eden Hospital, in Bishop Auckland, and the Josephine Rutter Centre, in Sedgefield Community Hospital. The roadshow aims to tell people about the plans and give them an opportunity to air their views.

Project manager Chris Mains, from County Durham and Darlington Priority Services NHS Trust, said: "The existing facilities are spread throughout the area and are no longer thought to be of the standard which we would like to have to care for older people who have mental health problems.

"We looked at a number of different options and felt that the maternity unit would be ideally suited for this project.

"The new centre will provide much better facilities and tailored treatment for older people who have depression, dementia and other mental health problems."

The trust needs final approval for the scheme from the NHS Executive regional office.

It hopes to start work at the end of this year and have the unit open in early 2004.

The roadshows will visit Homelands tomorrow at 2pm, Lady Eden on Tuesday at 1.30pm; and the Josephine Rutter Centre on Friday, June 27, at 10am.