A HAMPSHIRE company has landed a contract with Asia's largest private healthcare firm to decontaminate Singaporean hospitals against the SARS virus.

Bioquell, based at Andover, has won a contract with Parkway Group Healthcare to use its special sterilisation system at two of its hospitals.

Bioquell did not disclose the value of the deal but it is thought to be worth up to £250,000.

The system, which weighs just 25kg, kills bacteria and viruses in hospital wards by spraying hydrogen peroxide vapour which is then catalytically converted into water and oxygen.

It can also be used to kill Anthrax.

The company which has its base at Walworth Road hopes to see the system put into use in hospitals across the Asia region which bore the brunt of the Sars outbreak.

It is in talks with a number of Asian governments over potential contracts and chief executive Nick Adams is due to fly to Japan this week to meet with interested parties.

He said: "Following Bioquell's RBDS process, the Parkway hospitals will, quite literally, have the most micro-biologically clean rooms and wards in the world.''

Parkway's managing director, Dr Lim Cheok Peng, said: "Parkway's hospitals are Sars-free. However, putting in place this technology ensures that a proactive, preventative and robust approach is taken to infection control in all our hospitals.'''

Bioquell, whose research and development director David Watling designed the Star Wars robot character R2-D2, employs 150 people.