https://electricbrighton.comA SPORTS stadium is being converted into a "hot hub" appointment centre for coronavirus.

Work began at 8.30am this morning to turn the Withdean Stadium complex into a station where people displaying symptoms of Covid-19 can get an appointment.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said this afternoon: "There will be an NHS hot hub for Covid-19 at the Withdean Stadium.

"A hot hub is a place where any patient with Covid-19 symptoms will be given an appointment to attend rather than their own GP practice."

An Argus source said the stadium’s car park is in the throes of being closed “with immediate effect”.

This morning, a council parking enforcement crane lorry lifted all vehicles from the main car park and moved them into the adjacent sportsman car park so that owners can remove them, the source said.

Another council crane lorry relocated the whole of the recycling area from the corner of the main car park down into the overflow car park opposite the Tongdean Lane railway bridge, while a cleansing team waited to use high pressure hoses and disinfectant to clear and deep clean the main car park.

The Argus:

Picture Electricbrighton.com

The source said workers were only notified this morning about the conversion and said: “The guys only found out this morning when they were pulled off their normal jobs to ‘clear Withdean main car park ready for a testing station’.”

It is not clear when the site will open.

  • The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund