Work is underway on a £150 million student accommodation scheme in East Sussex.

Balfour Beatty has started building a new 600-bed facility on the University of Sussex's East Slope site at Falmer, along with a new Students' Union building and student amenities.

Further features will include a mix of town houses and flats, communal areas such as kitchens, common rooms, laundry space and secure cycle parking for every resident.

The project will double the amount of beds on the site to more than 2,000 once completed by 2020. The first phase is scheduled for completion around September/October 2018.

To mark the start of construction, a ground-breaking ceremony was held last week by Balfour Beatty and The University of Sussex, who were joined by the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Pete West, and Maureen Chowen, the High Sheriff of East Sussex.

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David Swarbrick, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty Investments, said: "This event marks the start of construction of the East Slope Residences project and a significant milestone in our partnership with the University. This partnership allows Balfour Beatty to bring to the project its extensive experience in the design, funding, construction and operation of high quality accommodation which will contribute to the student experience while at university.

"We look forward to seeing the transformation of the East Slope site and to welcoming students to the first phase of additional accommodation, which is expected to be ready for the start of the 2018/19 academic year."

Professor Davies said: "This is an exciting milestone in our plans to deliver an outstanding university experience for all our students.

"A key part of this is giving more of our students the opportunity to live on campus in high-quality accommodation, and providing a fantastic, purpose-built new home for our Students' Union. "It's great to see this work get under way."

VIPs from the University of Sussex and Balfour Beatty pose with the project team for the University's new student village.

(LM/MH)