STAFF and residents at Southampton's Salvation Army Hostel are celebrating this week after receiving a £4m cash boost to help refurbish the building.

The money will be used over the next two years to provide upgraded hostel accommodation at the Mountbatten Centre in Oxford Street and to build supported residential homes for homeless people so they can be helped to return to society.

The cash will be used to help pay for repairs to the building and has been allocated by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott.

The 62-bed centre currently provides accommodation for rough sleepers in the city but is badly in need of repair.

The building will undergo extensive modernisation over the next two years which will allow it to help the city's homeless rebuild their lives.

Fifty-five new flats are expected to be built. Residents will be allocated a social worker who will help to arrange education and training including literacy and computer skills.

After a stay at the facility, it is hoped they will be prepared to live independently in the community.

Centre manager Major Victor Kidd said the grant was "all important" for providing the service needed to help the homeless.

He said: "We can't go on as it is with the old building and make progress with our programme. The building at present soaks up money for repairs.

"The new accommodation will be self-contained live-in facilities. We will be able to perform our programme for our clients in more suitable surroundings."

City council leader Councillor Adrian Vinson added: "This is excellent news for a first-rate organisation serving people with the greatest needs in the city."