A well-known veterinary practice is looking to expand with a brand new state-of-the-art hospital, it has been revealed.

Rosemullion Veterinary Practice currently has three branches, one at Parc Briwer in Penryn, one in Helston and their existing hospital, which is based at Melvill Road in Falmouth.

They want to build their new hospital off Kernick Road at the back of Asda, on land that is owned by Walker Developments and has been used for storing boat moulds in the recent past.

At a meeting of Penryn Town Council last week practice manager Stuart Saunders told councillors that the vets would lose their hospital status, awarded by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) every five years, if something was not done to replace the outdated and “cramped” hospital.

“They did say if we are in the same position when they come back then they won’t give it to us,” he said.

“We were the first veterinary hospital in Cornwall and it’s a key driving force for the way we do things - We are really looking to push this through.”

Limited parking space and not enough consultation rooms were just some of the issues that could be resolved with the new hospital at Kernick, Mr Saunders said.

The workforce could also be expanded to more than 50 permanent staff, he said, from the 34 that were employed by Rosemullion when he started as manager three years ago - and being a hospital means they run a 24-hour service.

“If we lose the hospital status then we sort of lose the reason to have that [round-the-clock] workforce there,” Mr Saunders said.

“It would restrict the growth of the business as a whole.”

Time is of the essence for any planning application, Mr Saunders added, as he would require so-called “convergence funding” to help finance the build.

Without this funding, which comes from a European-wide economic regeneration programme and must be distributed by next year, his plans would be “pretty much dead in the water.”

A planning application is expected to be formally submitted within the next month and building work has to start by July 2013 for the funding to be forthcoming, Mr Saunders said.