Plans to build a new world-class training and research and development centre for laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery in Colchester have been revealed.

The facility will be called Anglia Ruskin Colchester Hospital ICENI Centre. It will be built at Colchester General Hospital in a partnership involving Anglia Ruskin University and Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust.

Senior representatives of both organisations, including laparoscopic surgeons and their guests, will gather at Layer Marney Tower on Tuesday to sign an agreement which will pave the way for the development.

Work on the £1.5m Anglia Ruskin Colchester Hospital ICENI Centre, which will be built next to the hospital's Postgraduate Medical Centre, is expected to start in October with a scheduled completion date of autumn 2010.

Laparoscopic surgery offers many advantages over traditional 'open' surgery. Keyhole surgery involves small incisions rather than large cuts so there is less post-operative wound pain, bleeding, and risk of infection. Patients spend less time in hospital and are able to return to normal activities sooner.

The Trust, which consists of Colchester General Hospital and Essex County Hospital, is one of 16 partners in Anglia Ruskin University's Postgraduate Medical Institute.

The ICENI Centre will have lecture theatres and seminar rooms and be equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation and computers for simulating surgery, demonstrating operations and communicating with other hospitals in the UK and abroad.

On Tuesday a recent patient, the Reverend Bob Fuller, Vicar of St John's Church, Colchester, will tell guests how he was able to leave Colchester General Hospital less than 72 hours after a major laparoscopic operation for bowel cancer. The national average length of hospital stay for this operation if performed in the traditional 'open' way is 11 days.

The hospital has the highest concentration of advanced laparoscopic surgeons in the UK and performs more procedures across more disciplines than any other hospital. For example, it is one of only two UK hospitals to offer totally laparoscopic aortic aneurysm repairs and last year was designated a centre of excellence for laparoscopic colorectal (bowel) surgery for laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis.

Its team of six advanced laparoscopic surgeons also collaborate with surgeons in other specialties, such as gynaecology and urology, and are involved in research. The laparoscopic team is led by Professor Roger Motson, who has been a consultant at Colchester General Hospital since 1984. In 2001 he became a professor of surgery at Anglia Ruskin University in recognition of his national and international reputation in laparoscopic surgery.

The first laparoscopic courses were held in Colchester in 1992 and currently more than 10 regular training courses a year are run for for surgeons and theatre staff. Many of the delegates come to Colchester from overseas.

At a conference last November organised by Colchester's laparoscopic surgeons, Health Minister Lord Darzi, a laparoscopic surgeon himself, praised the Trust for developing a first-class patient-centred service and offering comprehensive medical and nursing training.