A TEMPORARY treatment area is being constructed at St Mary's Hospital — with plenty of help from local businesses and firefighters.

Widget Productions, normally in the business of building giant stages for events, took on a different challenge for the NHS.

They have constructed a huge platform with access ramps, for the ward to be built on top of.

They drafted in firefighters from the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service to help fill the ballast tanks, which cut down the amount of time it would have taken normally.

Widget Productions said: "It was nice to get out of the house today and do what we do.

"We built a 24m by 12m Litedeck platform with three access ramps at St Mary's Hospital for the NHS to build a temporary ward on.

"A humbling experience to see the doctors, nurses and ambulance services go about their day in these daunting times.

"Thank you to the Widget crew for stepping up and heading out of isolation to come and build this.

"And a special thank you to Chris Peck for sorting the haulage and the telehandler at short notice.

"Massive, massive shout out to the Isle of Wight Fire Service for answering the call. It would have taken 22 hours straight to fill the eight 1000l ballast tanks without their help."

Several Island businesses have been behind the effort to provide extra hospital beds, along with 40 army personnel from the Scots Guards.

An NHS Trust spokesperson said:

A spokesperson for Isle of Wight NHS Trust said: “We are setting up an additional clinical area to support our Emergency Department.

“This area will help us to treat patients with respiratory problems separately, as this reduces the risk of transmission, and help protect patients, our staff and the wider community.

“We want to say thank you to all the organisations involved that have helped to set up this additional clinical area.”