A hospital is considering a park-and-ride scheme to deal with an influx of extra staff and patients at a new development.

But residents are concerned the already congested area around the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton will become a Parking nightmare when the new Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital opens on the site next April.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is considering a 300-space park-and-ride scheme at Brighton Racecourse as one way of dealing with the problem.

The £37 million Royal Alexandra development will bring about 450 more staff to the Eastern Road site, adding to the 3,000 RSCH staff already there, plus extra patients and visitors.

There are only 620 parking spaces at the site and no plans to introduce more.

Brighton and Hove City Council is likely to introduce a restrictive parking scheme in the area this autumn, which will end free parking and cut pay-and-display parking times from four hours to two.

Hospital staff presented a 585-signature petition objecting to the scheme.

Lee Soden, director of facilities at the trust, said it was developing various ideas which would be presented to the trust's board of trustees next month.

The park-and-ride proposal would depend on whether the trust could afford to rent the land and whether a planning application would be approved by the city council.

Mr Soden said: "Parking will always be an issue but what we are trying to do is provide alternatives. It does require people to change their transport habits."

The trust has already launched a free bus service ferrying patients and staff between its site at the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath and the RSCH but this will not help people from outlying areas.

Other suggestions include staff using the city's car clubs and a minibus service for rural areas. But residents in the area are sceptical people will get out of their cars.