This is what a new £7.4million extension to Bradford Royal Infirmary will look like when the prefabricated sections are slotted together.

Clad in York Stone to fit in with its surroundings, the three-storey building is believed to be the UK's biggest modular-made hospital scheme. It should be finished this autumn and will mean up to 8,000 more in-patients can be cared for each year.

There will be three new state-of-the-art 28-bed wards and six operating theatres, with a glass link to the main hospital and three ambulance bays. It will be used for high-demand specialities, such as orthopaedics, general surgery, plastic surgery, ear, nose and throat surgery, urology, gynaecology, oral surgery and pain management.

The building will be made in sections at Yorkon's 60-acre production line in York and craned into position as 123 steel-framed modules up to 14 metres long.

David Jackson, chief executive of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "This development is a major step for healthcare in Bradford. The building will create much-needed capacity to help us ease the pressure on in-patient services.

"The modular approach will significantly reduce construction time, bringing benefit to thousands of patients who are waiting for surgery, whilst also minimising disruption to patient care during the building process.

"Yorkon has a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector and their design for this scheme will provide us with a flexible patient facility to help us meet the Government's tough waiting list targets."

Keith Blanshard, Director and General Manager of Yorkon, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this important project.

"We are experiencing a huge increase in demand for off-site construction from public and private health service provi-ders. Speed of construction is a necessity for healthcare schemes, where it is essential to bring the building into use as quickly as possible to help reduce waiting times.

"Modular building greatly reduces disruption on site - a key benefit for hospitals."