WORK to transform a former hospital site which has stood empty for more than a decade is getting under way.

Developer Sunnybanks Homes is undertaking a £5m housing project at the site of the Lamellion Hospital in Liskeard which was closed when the town's community hospital opened in 2002.

The site was the subject of some controversy when it was revealed that Cornwall Council had spent thousands of pounds on security.

The grounds and some of the buildings are associated with the Liskeard Union Workhouse which was built in 1837 on the two-and-a-half acre site.

An infirmary behind the workhouse was added in 1898. In later years, the whole site became the Lamellion Hospital.

The development, for over-55s, will comprise 12 new three-bedroom bungalows, the conversion of the two listed lodges at the front into individual properties, and the conversion of the former infirmary building into 11 apartments. The apartments will include six one- and two-bedroom homes which local people will be able to purchase at a fixed price of £70,000 and £87,000 respectively.

Graham Clark, planning director of Sunnybanks Homes, which is based at Hatt, near Saltash, said: 'The redevelopment of the former Lamellion Hospital site represents a significant financial investment, and a vote of confidence in Liskeard, on an important site that has remained unused for many years.'