WORK can now begin on a £53m cardiac centre in Southampton after it today received the green light from Health Secretary John Reid.

The project, which has already been approved by the Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust board and city council planning chiefs, will feature operating theatres, beds, a heart scanner, laboratories and a dedicated day unit.

Mr Reid has agreed that the scheme can be signed off, meaning that contracts can now be signed and builders can start work on the project.

The development, which will see Southampton become a centre of excellence for cardiac treatment, will be housed in a three-storey extension at the northern block of the city's general hospital.

City councillors agreed planning permission in August, but forced hospital bosses to pay out for improvements to nearby footpaths and bus stops.

The scheme will also include a catheter laboratory, admissions and recovery area, additional office accommodation and support space and a refurbished and extended cardiology facility.

Part of the work on the catheter laboratory has already begun, but builders can now move in on the main development, which will see an additional 3,000 investigations and treatments a year and will help cut waiting lists.

The whole project, which will be started in November, should be up and running by 2006.

Mr Reid gave the thumbs up for the centre while announcing more than £93m for new heart treatment facilities across the country.

He also gave the go-ahead to a new scheme at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital to reduce the time it takes to be diagnosed with heart disease.

Hospital spokesman Marilyn Kay said: "It's fantastic news for people in the south because this will be a state-of-the-art facility and heart disease is a big killer."

Dr Roger Boyle, national director for coronary heart disease, said: "The development of new centres around the county will ensure ease of access for those who need treatment."