IT'S A bit like putting Lego bricks together - only for real.

These contractors with regional construction company Bluestone are pictured lifting another accommodation "pod" into place for unique halls of residence in Southampton for students.

The packaged "digs", which are manufactured off site, are being craned into position as part of a £5m scheme for Southampton University.

The Montefiore 4 residences feature 159 modular student accommodation units across three new multi-storey buildings, situated at the existing Montefiore Halls of Residence site in the city.

The new residences, due for completion in April, each comprise bedrooms with en-suite facilities, communal kitchens and ancillary spaces.

Bluestone, which has local offices in Standard Way, Fareham, has worked with modular build expert Rollalong to develop a unique design for the buildings using a pioneering construction method.

A Bluestone spokesman said: "The approach allows for rapid installation that will enable the much needed new facilities to be delivered six months earlier than had a traditional construction method been used, as well as offering safety and quality control benefits."

It is the latest of five projects that Bluestone has carried out for the university, which has 20,000 students.

The company is also constructing a £4m student services building, a three-storey structure, which will incorporate professional services and student services areas. The building features an atrium and a bridge linking the new structure to the existing professional services building, situated in University Road.

The 53-week scheme, due for completion in May, has unique environmentally friendly features, including integrated photovoltaics in the atrium roof, which will generate from sunlight about a third of the new building's electrical energy requirement. Other schemes Bluestone has undertaken for the client include a refurbishment of the student's union and link block, a £6m extension to the Hartley Library and a new learning centre at the library.