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People in north Powys are being invited to share their thoughts on plans for a new regional health centre.

The facility in the middle of Newtown could include in-patient beds, rehabilitation and other services.

Powys Teaching Health Board chief executive Carol Shillabeer said the aim was to reduce the need for patients to visit hospitals outside the county.

County councillor and anti-poverty champion Joy Jones said it would make a "huge difference" for local people.

"It is wonderful and so exciting to see it all coming together," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"It brings much-needed health services into the area that will meet people's needs closer to home."

Ms Jones urged people to have their say about the project.

"It is really important that everyone attends the consultations so that the plan is what is needed by people living here and not what others think it should be," she said.

Ms Shillabeer added: "Our highest priority is to ensure residents of north Powys have access to the right health and care services at the right time, wherever possible either in their home, or their community through a new model of care.

"This will involve neighbourhood teams working together so that people receive a more seamless, joined-up service when they need it."

There is no general hospital in Powys, and many patients in the rural county have to travel long distances for health care, sometimes over the border to England.

People are invited to have their say on Friday at drop-in sessions in Llanidloes at Chatwood House, Longbridge Street, from 10:30 to 13:00 BST, and in Newtown at Glanhafren Market Hall from 14:30 to 16:30 BST.