A PRIVATE hospital is being planned for the region at a cost of £6m.

Due to be built in Lady Edith's Drive, on the outskirts of Scarborough, the 26-bed hospital is to be built by Independent Care to replace the Bupa Belvedere Hospital, which closed last May with the loss of 90 jobs.

Adrian Stevenson, chief executive of Independent Care, said: "Eighteen per cent of Scarborough's population have sought private healthcare. That is a substantial number of people.

"The new hospital will enable people to be treated locally instead of having to travel to York or Leeds."

The hospital will have an MRI scanner as well as two operating theatres and an x-ray department.