INTERNATIONAL group Balfour Beatty has clinched a 35-year PFI contract to redevelop and build the new £136m Salford Royal Hospital at Hope near Eccles.

The project, handled by Balfour Beatty's specialist arm, Consort Healthcare, in conjunction with HSBC Infrastructure Fund Management, is part of a scheme to include hospital building in Tameside also.

It will see 36,000 sq m of new and refurbished buildings, providing more single rooms and better access.

The plan, announced yesterday by Salford Royal NHS Trust, includes a new acute hospital building, an education building and a multi-storey car park.

Balfour Beatty companies Haden Young and Haden Building Management will provide electrical and mechanical systems and facilities management.

Completion is planned for June 2012.

Chair of Salford Royal Trust, Margaret Morris, said: "The new development will provide vastly improved facilities for patients, visitors and staff. We hope that patients and the wider public will look forward to the benefits that this investment will bring."