ALCESTRIANS packed a meeting on Monday night to hear an update on plans for a new hospital.

GPs from the Priory Road and Arrow Lodge surgeries, who have teamed up to build a £3 million new hospital, have spent the last few months working through details of planning and funding with South Warwickshire Primary Care Trust (PCT).

But although it was the third update meeting, plans for the new hospital are still not completed and were not available to view.

Dr Richard Lamber, of Arrow Lodge, said: "We're all disappointed the process is taking longer than we had hoped but we are equally committed to making sure that we do not cut corners which may cause the project to fail at a later stage.

"We are determined we do this properly and do not find any surprises later on.

"The Alcester development has been let down too many times in the past and we want to make sure it is different this time."

A spokesman for South Warwickshire PCT said: "We felt that although plans were not yet available, the meeting should go ahead as local residents who attended the October meeting felt there should be another chance for people to meet following a breakdown in communication for the October event.

"At the moment, it's difficult to predict exactly when plans will be available so a new meeting date will be set when these have been drawn up.

"We understand there's significant interest in the work and the PCT will be issuing updates jointly with the GP practices whenever a significant point is reached and would be happy to send copies of these to people."

The meeting also revealed what services Alcester people would like to see at the new hospital after 35 people responded to a questionnaire given out by the PCT.

Coming top of the list were inpatient facilities for older adults, followed closely by day case procedures and physiotherapy.

But one thing on the list that will not be at the new hospital will be radiology services.

No date has been set for the next update.