FAMILIES living near a Hampshire hospital have launched a campaign against NHS plans which they claim will create a traffic nightmare outside their homes.

Health chiefs have embarked on a multi-million-pound scheme to redevelop Tatchbury Mount Hospital, Calmore, which is surrounded by narrow country lanes.

A 36-bed mental health unit is already being built on the site and an 80-bed nursing home has also been proposed.

Now West Hampshire NHS Trust has applied for planning permission to use seven buildings at the 123-acre hospital as offices.

The application has horrified residents who say the scheme, combined with other developments on the land, will produce a huge increase in traffic.

Campaigners are calling for the hospital to be provided with a new access road off the nearby A326 to keep cars away from homes in Loperwood, Loperwood Lane and Winsor Road.

The issue was raised at a meeting of New Forest District Council's planning and development control committee.

Objectors said the various schemes at Tatchbury Mount would result in 1,740 traffic movements a day - far more than previous uses of the buildings.

Netley Marsh councillor Les Puttock said: "This application is causing great concern to residents in the area."

Cllr Puttock referred to a letter received from a man who used to be responsible for the day-to-day running of Tatchbury Mount.

The letter said vehicle movements at the hospital in the 1980s totalled just 350 a day - less than a fifth of the number likely to occur in the future.

Members decided to defer the application and obtain more data about future traffic levels and their impact on road safety.