Bosses behind the Watford Health Campus say they remain confident of securing vital financial backing, despite the project “slipping” amid the economic doom and gloom.

It is now two years since planning permission for the ambitious project - which will see Watford General completely rebuilt - was submitted.

A resolution to grant planning permission has already been agreed, however, the project has not yet received full planning permission.

At a council meeting inside Watford Town Hall on Thursday night last week, planning officers admitted the project has “slipped” from its initial time-scale.

Doubts have also surfaced about whether large public projects, such as the Health Campus, will receive financial backing in the current economic climate.

However, Kyle McClelland, project manager of the £1 billion project, says the “unique” scheme has already won support from influential potential bidders.

Mr McClelland also admitted there has been some “fun and games” as work to develop the huge scheme's Section 106 agreement has stalled.

He said: “The next big milestone is the achievement of the formal planning permission. We expect that will probably happen in September.

“It has taken a bit longer than we were expecting. It is a hugely complex piece of work.”

While admitting concerns about PFI funding are not unfounded, Mr McClelland says it is too early for the project's partners to be concerned about the recession.

He said: “I wouldn't say the concerns are misplaced. But PFI is certainly not dead.

“Having said that, money can be much harder to come by, but we are not at that point at the moment.

“We are not at the point where we are seeking the money from the private sector and we won't be for a little while.”

He also said the project's partners, which include Watford Borough Council, West Herts Hospitals Trust and Watford Football Club, were prepared to consider alternative “ownership structures”, as well as alternative ways of paying for the new hospital.

He said: “We have some big decisions to take as to whether we do that [seek PFI].

“There are some alternatives out there that we can explore.

“We could create a corporate vehicle, a limited company if you like, that the land goes into.

“That company could then go out into the market and pull in additional investment from the private sector.

“There are all sorts of options.

“We are at the point where we need to start thinking about making those decisions. When those decisions are made we can set some more robust time-scales.”

The project has relaunched its website, www.watfordhealthcampus.org, and has also signed up to social networking site Twitter to keep residents up-to-date.