A PLAN to knock down Malvern's old hospital and build a care home on its site has been rejected.

Members of Malvern Hills District Council's southern area planning committee last night voted 16-1 to throw out the proposal by Caring Homes Group/Montpelier Estates for the 46-bed home.

Members said that the proposal was unsuitable for the site in Lansdowne Crescent, in Great Malvern's conservation area.

This is the third plan for the nursing home that has failed to win the approval of the district councillors. Earlier, they threw out two proposals, one in a traditional style and the other more modern.

The latest decision has been welcomed by the Residents and Friends of Lansdowne Crescent.

Chairman Alan Foster said: "We're very pleased with the decision that the councillors have made. The old hospital building is part of Malvern's heritage.

"But we remain concerned about the building, which has been empty for so long, and we look forward to proposals for the site which should be capable of being adapted whilst retaining the value of the building to the conservation area."

The councillors' decision went against the advice of planning officers, who recommended that the application is approved.

Planning officer Duncan Rudge told the committee that although the loss of the building would harm the conservation area, the care-home proposal would bring the empty site back into use, and was the best viable use of the site.

At the meeting Cllr Roger Hall-Jones proposed refusal from the chair, saying: "I am not opposed to modern buildings. We can see elsewhere in the town, along Worcester Road, for instance, how modern buildings fit in very well with the Regency buildings around them.

"But our own conservation officer, the civic society and heritage organisations like Historic England and the Victorian Society are all telling us not to go down the road of approving this plan."

The old hospital site has remained unused since the opening of the new community hospital in Malvern Link in 2010.