A planning application has been submitted to Ipswich Borough Council to bring a modular building from Norfolk to Ipswich to help mental health services.

The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), the region's mental health trust, is looking to create a new stand-alone community base for the early intervention in psychosis service.

The building, which is transferrable, is currently being used as a pharmacy at Hellesdon Hospital in Norwich, but, should planning be approved, it will be moved onto the former Easton House site on Ribbans Park Road in Ipswich.

The Easton House that frequented the site, was used as two mental health wards before it closed in 2009 to move to Ipswich Hospital.

The building was knocked down earlier this year following an approved plan from NSFT, with work finishing in April.

They also plan to build a new car park on the site, able to accommodate staff and members of the public who are receiving care and support from NSFT.

The car park will accommodate 26 spaces, with two being disabled bays, four being for 'pool cars' and one electric charging bay.

Along with moving the existing building, they plan to extend the building, so it is a rectangular shape with additional modules, making the space bigger.

The proposed site will fit in the NSFT's 'health campus' on the Ribbans Park estates, with Foxhall House (mental health unit), Suffolk Recovery and Rehabilitation Service and Cedar House (admin block), all backing onto the proposed site.

A spokesperson for NSFT said: "We are constructing a new pharmacy building at Hellesdon Hospital which is due to open in September.

"As such, the modular building which currently houses the pharmacy will no longer be needed on our Norwich site.

“We are therefore applying for planning permission to move the building to Ipswich.

"If permission is granted, we will use it as a staff base, while it will also provide some additional consultation rooms for our early intervention in psychosis service.”