The Government is to invest £350m to develop new modern public health labs in Essex.

The announcement will see part of Public Health England move from its existing facilities at Porton Down into new labs at Harlow.

The new facilities, based on the site currently owned by GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) in the Pinnacles, will create a centre for research, health improvement and protection.

Public Health England Chief Executive, Duncan Selbie said: "This is a big step forward for UK public health science. Giving our world leading scientists world class facilities, located in the region with the greatest concentration of academic and commercial expertise in life sciences, will ensure we can deal with the health challenges we face now and are certain to in the future."

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Harlow Council Leader Jon Clempner said: "This is extremely good news for Harlow as it will increase the number of high quality science and research jobs and other job roles in the town.

"It will also contribute to the Enterprise Zone developments in Harlow and the new world-class public health labs link perfectly with its MedTech focus, as well as increasing the attractiveness of the town for businesses in the science and health sector."

(LM)