Thousands of pounds worth of work to upgrade the road into Mountbatten Hospice has been completed for free.

Construction company Skanska and Hampshire firm Pavenet teamed up to resurface a large section of the hospice’s access road, which was filled with potholes.

Work to improve footpaths in the hospice’s gardens was also completed at no cost.

“We wanted to give something back to Countess Mountbatten,” said Charlie Green, Skanska’s Customer Liaison Manager.

“We were more than happy to do our little bit to improve the road, parking area and some of the paths.

“It’s a really important facility and we were pleased to help.”

Further projects involving both companies to upgrade the road infrastructure at the Southampton hospice will be explored in the new year.

“We are really grateful and thankful to Skanska and Pavenet for doing this work for us,” said Mountbatten chief executive Nigel Hartley.

“The road was in desperate need of attention and it is one of many things we need to do to improve our hospice environment.

“We simply cannot do it without the support of local businesses and the community so anyone out there looking for a project which could help us, we would love to hear from you.”