BULLDOZERS moved in to start the £500,000 redevelopment of a respite centre in Southampton.

Rotary House, which is run by the charity Wessex Heartbeat to support the families of heart patients at Southampton General Hospital, is being expanded to provide even greater care.

Construction specialists Rok are leading the project, which involves redeveloping two neighbouring properties in Tremona Road after they were bought by Heartbeat.

The scheme runs alongside another ongoing Heartbeat project - the £3m construction of the state-of-the-art Cardiac Centre at the General, which will put Southampton at the forefront of cardiac care in Europe.

Building work on Rotary House, which will also incorporate the charity's new headquarters, should be completed in the summer.

Echo picture by Stuart Martin.