A multi-million-pound hospital revamp to combat a shortage of mental health beds is not expected to be ready until next year following fresh delays to the scheme.

The Rivers Centre at Hellesdon Hospital - a £55m project consisting of three entirely new wards and two renovations - promises to increase the site's bed capacity by 15.

Originally, it had hoped the much-needed facility would be ready to treat its first patients in the summer, but this was pushed back to the autumn after a series of delays.

Now, bosses from the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust say the facility is not expected to open until early next year - although the construction work is due to be completed in the coming weeks.

It is hoped the first patients will be treated at the Rivers Centre in January.

The delays, which are largely due to the availability of building materials, have also seen more than £5 million piled onto the project's bill.

These cost rises were down to changes in the economic climate while the project dragged on.

It comes at a time when NHS mental health beds are in increasingly short supply, with the trust still having to rely on either the private sector or out-of-area placements.

This year alone, coroners in Norfolk and Suffolk have published three reports to prevent future deaths highlighting bed shortages, with the most recent issued last month.

An NSFT spokesman said: "The new Rivers Centre wards will allow the trust to provide modern, purpose-built environments and therapeutic space as well as additional capacity.

"This will help to reduce the use of out-of-area and independent sector placements for people living locally who need inpatient mental health care, treatment and support.

"This investment will play a significant role in enhancing care for local people recognising wherever possible people needing inpatient care should receive it in a facility as close to home as possible."