A MYSTERY alternative site is being considered for Malvern's new hospital.

At next week's meeting of South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, chief executive Mike Ridley will announce the trust has been offered a new site at no cost to the PCT.

For decades, efforts to secure a new hospital have concentrated on Seaford Court, Worcester Road.

"The land is in the Malvern area but a detailed assessment of its appropriateness has not been undertaken," Mr Ridley says in his report, released late yesterday.

He said there are conditions attached to the offer and he wants guidance from the board on whether to pursue it.

He adds that the offer would clearly require a further public consultation.

In the report, Mr Ridley does not name the proposed site or donor. He could not be contacted yesterday.

One possibility is that it is outside Malvern's settlement boundary and the proposer will press to be allowed to develop there, perhaps housing or retail units.

Malvern Hills district councillor Clive Smith said: "The PCT has to investigate this offer but if it's outside the current or proposed settlement boundary, the problems arising seem insurmountable. We can't allow the PCT to drive a coach and horses through the current or emerging local plan."

Hospital campaigner Pat Merrick said: "I would want to know a lot more, such as where it is and what the conditions would be, before I could decide whether it's a good thing."

In the same report, Mr Ridley says the three business cases for Seaford Court, called for at a meeting in August, are not yet complete. He will report on progress at December's meeting.

In a separate development, the future of the existing hospital at Lansdowne Crescent is being debated next week.

MHDC is issuing a new draft statement, laying down principles for developing the site.

It says the Edwardian building should stay, but with modern extensions demolished.

It could provide up to 15 one- or two-bedroom flats, up to half of them "affordable". But nothing should be done until the new hospital is open.

Residents are keeping a close eye on the site and will be meeting to discuss the situation. Audrey Stebbens said: "There's a general feeling in the street that we wouldn't want a modern building."

Dr Alan Stebbens said the number was a concern, especially if some are two-bedroom.

"15 houses is probably stretching things a bit," he said.

Tim Wolff was glad the site wasn't going to be bulldozed. "It retains part of Malvern's heritage," he said.

The draft statement goes before MHDC's planning committee on Tuesday night. If it is approved, it will go out to public consultation for six weeks, starting on Friday, October 21.