BUILDING work on a new children's centre in Watford began on Tuesday with a symbolic turf-cutting ceremony.

Watford MP Claire Ward and Watford Mayor Ian Brown dug spades into the one-and-a-half acre site off Rickmansworth Road where the new £2.1 million development, the Peace Children's Centre, will stand.

Mr Bill Macintyre, chief executive of West Herts Community Health Trust, said attempts to launch the project dated back to 1982.

During a ceremony at the nearby Knutsford House, he said: 'This is a milestone event.

'A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to get us to this point.

'First of all we had to get the money, which involved the disposal of several other sites. It is in effect three older buildings coming into one, including the one we are in at the moment.

'It will be excellent for the parents and children who use these facilities. It will be more user-friendly and will enable much better services in one centre for children with a range of disabilities.'

After the ceremony, Miss Ward and Councillor Brown cut a celebratory cake.

Miss Ward said: 'I think this is a very exciting project for the community, one I am particularly pleased about because the ideas came from the public so they should feel a real sense of ownership.

'It's a service that is much needed in Watford because some people have real problems moving between different buildings to access different services.'

In April, Watford Council gave West Herts Community Health Trust planning permission to build the centre, which will serve all children in west Hertfordshire with hearing difficulties, but will be mainly for those resident in Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere.

Its glass and metal design was chosen by staff and the public in December following a mobile exhibition of four options.

Children will be able to receive speech and language therapy, hearing tests, dental treatment, baby clinics and a range of other services. The project includes an upgrade of the nearby Avenue House Clinic, which offers adult services.

About 200 patients are expected to pass through the new centre's doors each day.

The site, occupied by the Peace Memorial Hospital until 1985, was cleared before Tuesday's ceremony and builders started digging the foundations straight away.

Terrapin - a Milton Keynes company that specialises in rapid building projects - is buiding the centre with a team of about 40 people.

Building work is due to finish in six months and the centre is due to open in the spring next year.