A landmark Victorian building is to be demolished to make way for flats.

Campaigners who fought to save the much-loved building have failed to convince builders George Wimpey to preserve The Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children, Brighton, in its redevelopment of the land.

The £10 million sell-out will lead to 150 homes, a GP surgery, pharmacy and community green on the Dyke Road site.

Council conservation officers describe the building as "an important part of Brighton life and a well known local landmark".

But the red-brick hospital will be knocked down if George Wimpey is given planning permission.

A spokesman for the builders group said it was financially impossible to include a GPs surgery and flats on site while retaining the original building.

Martin Foster, treasurer of the Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association, said: "It is an appalling design.

"They cannot make enough money out of it - that is why they are knocking it down.

"I think it is awful and it will affect other listed buildings nearby.

"I hope we will be able to kick it out at planning."

The Royal Alexandra Hospital will close this summer and treatment will move to a new building, at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road, which is due to open next month.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust says the £10 million windfall will be ploughed back into hospital services.

A survey carried out by the Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association and Westhill Residents' Association last year found two out of three people living nearby wanted the buildings to be saved.

An application was submitted to English Heritage to list the hospital but it was turned down because much of the exterior and internal features had been altered.

The new development will include a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, with affordable housing including key worker homes, shared ownership schemes and low cost housing to help first time buyers.

Up to five GPs will be able to work in the surgery and the Primary Care Trust has identified Dr Gayton and Partners of Victoria Road as a potential practice to move to the new building.

The hospital's garden will also be opened up as a community green with a landscaped area.

Independent conservation architect David Lewis, who was asked by George Wimpey to comment on the proposals, said: "The existing building facades have been so altered over the years that they really have lost their integrity and are now of comparatively little architectural value.

"The existing buildings are also in fairly poor condition.

"Redevelopment of the whole site offers the opportunity to create high quality buildings which are sympathetic to the characteristics of the conservation area."

A drop-in public exhibition will be held at the St Mary Magdalen Community Centre, 55 Upper North Street, Brighton, on Friday, May 11, from 2pm to 8pm and on Saturday, May 12, from 10am to 2pm The plans will be fine tuned following consultation and George Wimpey then intends to submit a planning application to Brighton and Hove City Council in the summer.

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