The UK’s leading military rehabilitation centre looks set to be replaced by a new complex in the Midlands. 

A ministerial statement is due this afternoon on whether Headley Court, situated close to Ashtead, which is the country’s largest centre for injured servicemen and women, will be replaced.

Last February, this newspaper revealed that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was considering plans to create a new £300m complex in the Midlands, a Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC), at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough, as a successor to Headley Court.

While Headley Court focuses on treating injured servicemen and women, a DNRC would also treat the wider public, who have sustained serious injuries in incidents such as car accidents.

But it is understood that the MoD will announce today that the DNRC will open in 2018.

A world-class institution with very strong local support, the news that the Government was considering replacing Headley Court was met by shock and surprise.

In February, Mole Valley Lib Dem councillor David Preedy, who represents Headley, called for Government ministers to engage with the area’s community to ensure all possible uses for Headley Court were investigated before its future role is decided.

He said he believed that an outright closure of Headley Court as a military facility would be under serious consideration by the MoD if a DNRC was to be approved.

We will bring you the Government's decision this afternoon as soon as it is announced.