Airedale Hospital has announced plans to build new residential homes for doctors and nurses.

The Steeton hospital has applied for planning permission to build a three to four storey staff block and nine residential mews houses on the far side of its West car park.

However, Airedale NHS Trust says that any car parking spaces lost will be replaced before any building takes place.

The development, to be funded by a Private Finance Initiative (PFI), would replace houses on the site that were built 30 years ago when the hospital opened.

The aim is to provide 48 units to cater for both single and married members of staff, who will be accommodated in 162 bedrooms that will have 183 beds.

Members of staff will be housed in the current accommodation until completion of the new development.

Head of commercial services Richard Fisher says: "We are planning to re-provide our residential accommodation for staff at the hospital to replace part of our existing accommodation.

"The two storey flats we currently have were built in the seventies and are beginning to show their age, and members of staff are looking forward to the development with great pleasure.

"We will eventually demolish a lot of our existing accommodation and we will be developing on the West car park as a new site.

"The planning application requires that if any car parking spaces are taken they have to be re-provided before any building takes place, and hopefully we will be able to increase car parking.

"There is some land adjacent to the car park and we will be using part of that."

The new development would also replace the use of 14 houses on a housing estate next to the hospital, which the trust plans to sell off.

The trust is also looking to convert some of the old accommodation into offices. The plans and business case are being sent to the regional health authority for approval.

Staff representative Steve Fowler says that although the development is welcome, the method of paying for it is not.

He says: "The staff quarters are definitely inadequate and it would cost too much money to bring them up to an acceptable level.

"We need good accommodation for nurses and doctors to continue attracting staff to Airedale.

"We don't support the use of PFI because it's a short fix that is like putting the NHS into mortgage."

The hospital trust has also submitted plans to develop a new Audiology unit and social services department.