MINEHEAD'S new £26 million state of the art hospital will be fully open for business from February, it was confirmed this week.

Contractors Laing O'Rourke have handed over the keys of the development off Seaward Way to health chiefs - two weeks ahead of schedule.

The transferral of staff and facilities will soon get underway, with the minor injuries unit and in-patients' wards the last to move on February 14.

And two days later, the long-awaited hospital will be fully operational.

But local people will be able to have a preview of the building and its facilities at an open day on January 29.

More details of the event will be released by NHS Somerset within the next few weeks but the 'open house' is expected to run from about 10am to 2pm.

Project manager Simon Corrick said people would be able to tour the hospital and meet some of the staff who will be working there.

"We are delighted to have the chance to show local people what facilities will be available," he said.

Construction of the new hospital began in June 2009 following six months of preliminary ground work.

The new building is designed to be sustainable and energy efficient, with health chiefs also developing a sustainable transport plan to encourage alternative ways of reaching the site other than by car.