One of Bermuda's main drug rehabilitation centres is to move to a new home -- in the Island's only psychiatric hospital.

The Montrose Substance Abuse Centre will move to St. Brendan's from its base at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in the New Year if planning permission can be secured.

Planners have already received outline proposals for renovation work at the Devonshire hospital to accommodate the drugs unit.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board wants to renovate parts of A Section and Oleander Ward to form offices and meeting rooms for the new centre at St. Brendan's.

Six staff members will also move from King Edward when the new rehab unit is opened.

Hospital spokeswoman Kendaree Burgess Fairn said health chiefs hoped work could start within weeks.

She added: "The idea is simply to make things simpler. The Montrose organisation comes under the St. Brendan's Hospital umbrella and the drug programmes are managed from there.

"Montrose only takes up a very small area of the King Edward Hospital so the extra space will probably be used to absorb existing healthcare facilities.

"Now we are simply going through the process of trying to get planning approval.'' She said Montrose, which opened next to the hospital emergency department in 1979, worked in partnership with drug agencies across the Island.

"Montrose does not take residential patients anyway so the transition should be fairly smooth,'' said Ms Burgess Fairn. "Regular day-care facilities will not be affected.'' Clients can join the Montrose drug rehabilitation and aftercare schemes on an outpatient basis, between 9.30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays.