A medical school teaching building has been approved by Brighton and Hove Council planners.

The three-floor building on the Sussex University campus at Falmer will have almost 3,000 sq metres of space.

It will be linked to two other sites for the school at Brighton University, Falmer, and at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Planning officer Sue Dubberley said there were some reservations about the design but she added: "The proposal is considered acceptable in view of its city-wide benefits."

Students will spend their first year at the Sussex University site before moving in the second to the Brighton University and hospital sites. Their final two years will be mainly hospital-based.

The Sussex University building will have a curved metal roof with stone-effect brickwork on the sides and a glazed panel in the front.

There will be a lecture theatre, computer suite, seminar rooms, cafe, offices and a dissection suite.

The council's architects panel was unhappy with the design and the Society of Sussex Downsmen objected on the ground that the metal roof would be incongruous.

There will be nature conservation features, including boxes for swifts under the eaves, a wildlife pond and an orchid garden.