A £1 MILLION state-of-the-art physiotherapy centre providing dozens of local jobs is to be built in Whiteley.

Work is due to start on the centre in Gull Coppice on Monday. It is the culmination of a four-year dream for a Hill Head physiotherapist.

Lisa Brown, 37, has brought together doctors, consultants, specialists and therapists to launch her unique "one-stop" treatment centre.

And both private and NHS patients could benefit from a range of services as early as April.

These will include physiotherapy, acupuncture, exercise

therapy, massage and, it is hoped, NHS dental treatment.

A hydrotherapy pool, nine consulting rooms, an operating theatre, rehabilitation unit, medical gymnasium, personal training facility and lecture theatre are also in the plans.

Day care, surgery, private beds and "hospital at home" services will be available, as well as an "MoTs for bodies" service taking in everything from diagnosis to rehabilitation. Miss Brown, who runs LB Healthcare, said: "It's always been my dream to open a physiotherapy centre and we've been looking for four years for some land.

"We suffered a setback when planning permission was turned down for a site in Segensworth, but we've kept persevering. This is perfectly located in Whiteley, where healthcare professionals will be able to work in the community. I'm very excited it's all coming together."

Fareham Council leader and Whiteley resident Sean Woodward added: "It will allow people to have a lot of services at their disposal without leaving Whiteley which has got to be a good thing."

Funding for the project has come solely from local GPs, consultants and medical practitioners. The centre will be situated opposite the primary school and adjacent to the community centre.