Most people living close to a historic children's hospital want its buildings to be saved when it closes next year.

A survey of residents living around the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children in Brighton was carried out to find their views on its future.

The hospital, in Dyke Road, is moving to a new home in the grounds of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road, Brighton, in April 2007.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust plans to sell the old site for as much as it can to help pay for the cost of equipping the new hospital.

Some of the hospital buildings are more than 100 years old and no longer suitable for 21st Century medical care.

It is expected the site will be sold to developers for housing.

Locals are determined to make sure their views on future plans are heard and any development is in keeping with its location.

The Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association and Westhill Residents Association sent a survey to 2,500 homes in the area.

Sixty-six per cent said they wanted the hospital's main building to be kept.

Sixty per cent also wanted to see a mix of sale and rental housing on the site while 72 per cent wanted part of the site to be used for a medical centre.

Almost all respondents, 96 per cent, said any development should not be higher than the buildings already in place.

The Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association applied to English Heritage to have the hospital building listed but it was turned down because much of the exterior and internal features had been altered and extended over the years.

However the building is in a conservation area so it has some protection and developers will not simply be able to tear it down.

Association chairman Roger Amerena said it was up the community to work together to make sure its voice was heard.

He said: "We need our wishes to be put forward to any developers who buy the site.

"We tried to get the building protected through listing but it is still in a conservation area so there is some protection."

Brighton and Hove City Council planning officers are issuing an informal planning advice note which details the planning policies and issues relating to the site to any potential new owners.

Mr Amerena said: "Once the building is sold, the hospital trust will not be involved and the council has issued the advice note so it is the community that needs to work together to make its views known. It is the community which holds the key here."

A steering group set up by the community and chaired by Councillor Roy Pennington to look into the future changes at the site is to continue.

Paul Bonnett, chairman of the Brighton and Hove estate agents association said developers would be very interested in the site because it is in a prime location.

He said two-bedroom flats could range in price from £295,000 to £495,000.