The deadline for bidding for the former Papworth Hospital site in Papworth Everard is drawing close, leaving a question mark over what the land could be used for.

The deadline for bidding for the former Papworth Hospital site in Papworth Everard is drawing to a close, leaving a question mark over what the land could be used for in the future.

Acting on behalf of the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, chartered surveyors Barker Storey Matthews, now part of Eddisons, has been instructed to sell the former main hospital site.

In December, the Trust confirmed the sale of its old Papworth Everard site to a Chinese-backed firm would not be going ahead.

According to the Trust, the decision followed a failure by the purchaser to meet the "legal and financial requirements of the agreed contract".

Global Healthcare Real Estate Ltd, chaired by investor and entrepreneur Grace Bian, had unveiled an ambition to build a five-star health and wellness village comprising a country club and spa, convalescence and rehabilitation units, villas, and apartments.

Eddisons BSM has now been instructed to sell the site on an unconditional basis. The site extends to around 12.5 acres and includes a small lake as well as a wide range of buildings. The deadline for bids is March 6.

Steve Hawkins, partner at Eddisons BSM, said: "We are delighted to act for the Trust in its sale of the former main hospital site. We have recently successfully sold two sites in the immediate vicinity, previously providing staff accommodation, and hope to attract a wide variety of interest over the next few weeks."

The hospital was originally founded in 1918 as a sanatorium for the treatment of TB among discharged soldiers of WW1 and initially was known as the Cambridgeshire Tuberculosis Colony.

The site developed over the years to provide chest and lung surgery before expanding into cardiac surgery and became a world leader in its fields.

The old hospital site achieved many notable 'firsts', including the first successful heart transplant in the UK, the world's first successful heart, lung and liver transplant, and one of the world's first non-beating-beating-heart transplants. The facilities were transferred to the Cambridge Bio-medical Campus next to Addenbrooke's in 2019.