Cash to speed up the creation of 500 additional nursing places in Hampshire is being released by the county council.

A team of officers will be appointed to oversee the project, recruit nursing staff, and carry out administration.

The team will be vital in keeping a £60m Government-backed expansion of county nursing care on track.

The council hopes to provide 300 new nursing beds by December 2004, with 200 more to follow within 18 months.

Hampshire County Council leader, Ken Thornber, approved the creation the six posts at the policy and resources decision day held yesterday.

"Continuing nursing home closures have made it increasingly difficult to find nursing home beds.

"Our proactive partnership approach with the NHS will ensure steps are taken to meet future care needs of increasingly ageing and dependent older people," he said.

The 500 new places are designed to reduce delays in transferring vulnerable people into care. Extra places are needed to prevent the council incurring annual fines of up to £10m for "bed blocking".

The county will be charged £120 per day as of April for each patient left in an NHS hospital when the council fails to provide care.

A spokesman added: "We're very conscious that extending the capacity will help in the terms of reducing bed-blocking."

The beds will be housed in 15 new buildings on council and NHS land. The council is expected to announce where the sites will be in April, and begin construction in the autumn.

The project is a joint venture between the council, the county's primary care trusts and the Hampshire and IoW Strategy Health Authority.

The council is receiving a £20m grant from the Department of Health, £20m from the health authority, and has taken out a government loan of £20m. After the initial £60m expenditure to create the new nursing beds, the council will fund the annual running costs of £13m.

The administration team's wage bill will be a maximum of around £280,000 for the first complete financial year, which begins this April.