Plans have been submitted to create a new building at the city's flagship hospital to house a new scanner.

It will be the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital's fourth MRI and CT scanner, and will enable the hospital to cut waiting lists and carry out more diagnostic scans on patients.

The new radiology building will sit within an area of what is currently the hospital A & E car park, with a link corridor to the main hospital.

There will be no loss of car parking spaces, as the hospital plans to reconfigure the spaces by moving the cycle storage to a landscaped area next to the car park.

Medical director Mr Krishna Sethia said: 'We have made significant investment in the very latest scanners and this application forms part of that expansion of our radiology service. The new building will house our fourth MRI scanner and our fourth CT scanner. The new MRI scanner will be one of the most technically advanced of its kind.'

The new MRI machine - currently the most powerful available - will be used by the University of East Anglia for research purposes as well.

The tendering process for this scheme ends in December and work is scheduled for 2011, subject to planning.

If the building gets the go-ahead from South Norfolk planners, the existing A&E car park will have to be used as a contractors compound area during the build and a new temporary A&E car park will be provided.

The hospital trust has also recently made a significant investment in buying a new �800,000 MRI scanner for Cromer Hospital.

It has also spent the past four to five years training its staff to use the new machine, after experiencing difficulties in recruiting enough trained MRI radiographers.

Do you have a story for the Evening News? Contact reporter Kim Briscoe on 01603 772419 or email kim.briscoe@archant.co.uk.