The president of Malta visited Sutton to mark the building of apartments for Maltese cancer patients who require specialiist treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

The 12 apartments are being built in Cheam Road, next to the junction of Gander Green Lane, by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Puttinu Cares Foundation.

They will provide free accommodation to cancer patients who visit the Marsden each year to receive treatment, under an agreement between the UK and Maltese governments.

The £3m cost will be covered by fundraising work by the foundation.

The entourage from Malta to visit the building site where the apartments are being constructed included the president of Malta, Dr George Abela, the prime minister of Malta’s wife Catherine Gonzi, and the minister of health, Dr Joseph Cassar.

Dr Abela unveiled a plaque at the site, after a mass.

Dr Abela said: “The building of these apartments is very important for the Maltese residents who come to the UK to receive treatment.

“When they leave our shores they have to come to a new place and a new hospital, along with all the uncertainties in their lives.

“The significant thing is that they will stay in these apartments, be alongside other people in the same situation, and they can offer each other support.”

Dr Abela thanked the Royal Marsden for the excellence of its treatment, and Sutton Council for its support through the project.

The new apartments, expected to be completed by September 2012, will join four apartments bought by the foundation in Camden Gardens, Sutton, that have been used by many Maltese citizens who have already received treatment at the Royal Marsden.