"HUNDREDS of millions"could be spent on a revamp of Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

Plans were revealed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's area director Rob Smith at a Wrexham Council scrutiny meeting.

Mr Smith said the health board was in the early stages of planning an overhaul of the hospital and was looking for political support to get funding.

No start date has been set for the work but Mr Smith hoped it would begin within the next five years, saying: "It depends when the clock starts ticking from."

As the plans are in the very early stages of development a more specific figure was not put forward as to how much the work would cost either.

Asked if the opening HMP Berwyn in Wrexham had affected the hospital, Dr Gareth Bowdler said the impact of the prison had been negligible and added the Welsh Government was not sending any money to the Maelor to cover any extra costs.

Also discussed at the meeting was the issue of mental health in North Wales.

Lesley Singleton, Betsi Cadwaladr's head of strategy for mental health, spoke of the police's use of the section 136 to take control and assist people suffering from mental issues in public.

Cllr I David Bithell spoke of an apparent increase in the use of section 136, but Ms Singleton said use of section 136 had fallen.

Cllr Krista Childs wanted to know if there was an out-of-hours service for people suffering from mental health issues, to which Ms Singleton replied: "We haven't got a 24/7 suite available, but we have psychiatric liaison services and a home treatment team." However she accepted that was "not adequate".

Cllr Hugh Jones was concerned to see mental health issues were being tackled from a young age and asked if schools were involved. Again Ms Singleton acknowledged that there was more to be done.

The scrutiny board will reconvene in six months time, with an update to all the items on the agenda.