DISTRAUGHT residents from Penton Harroway and Weyhill have contacted Andover MP Sir George Young following the planning application for a secure adult psychiatric unit on the site of the derelict Rothsay Hotel.

"I share their disappointment that the first they - and I - heard about this proposal was from the Andover Advertiser," he said.

"I would have hoped that, before putting in the formal planning application, the company might have consulted with local people and taken them into its confidence about its plans for the area.

"This would have been a prudent first step, whatever their plans for the site.

"For a proposal as sensitive as this one, I think it should have been essential.

"I am now contacting the company to see if they will attend a public meeting at the Fairgound, which I am prepared to chair."

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser.