A £5.4 million project to build a new 20-bed Farleigh Hospice on a site next to Broomfield Hospital has been given the go-ahead.

Members of Chelmsford Borough Council's environment committee gave the long-awaited approval to the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday.

The decision has brought delight to Farleigh hospice board who first put forward the application to the council in July last year. The plans hit a stumbling block over access to the planned development on a 4.8 acre site at the corner of Court Road and Woodhouse Lane in Broomfield.

But now approval has been granted it is hoped that the new hospice, which will double the number of beds at the present Farleigh in New London Road, can become a reality in the near future.

Janet Doghan, chief executive of Farleigh Hospice said: "We are very happy that planning permission has been granted. The capital appeal committee is meeting this week to look at the next steps. Initially we will be making a private appeal for the capital to individuals and trusts and will also be making an application for lottery funding.

"No decision has been made yet about the present hospice building. The board will have to consider this and it may be that it will eventually be sold."

Until the new hospice opens services will continue as normal at the current Farleigh, which first opened in 1989.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.