WORK which would bring a new lease of life to Pershore’s old Cottage Hospital could be just around the corner.

The neighbouring Abbottswood Medical Centre, which revealed in February that it was seeking permission to demolish part of the old Cottage Hospital site in order to expand, has now submitted a planning application for the work.

Partners at the Defford Road centre want to buy about a third of the Cottage Hospital site with the intention of building a single-story extension which would contain six treatment rooms, including a minor surgery unit, together with more car parking.

Practice manager Julie Moore said: “When the new hospital was built in 2006 discussions were taking place at that time, so this development was part of the original expansion plans.

“We very much hope that planning permission will go through but we are not purchasing the land until it has.

Should we gain planning permission we hope to start building in April 2012.

“The lack of space here for our clinical staff is the main problem so we need the extra rooms to continue to provide modern healthcare. We also hope that if we have these rooms we might be able to take part in undergraduate teaching to some extent.”

Pershore Cottage Hospital was opened in 1895 but has remained empty since 2003 when it closed by Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, its current owners, because of a £5 million funding deficit.

One of Abbottswood’s partners, Dr Glenn Ralphs, had previously confirmed that the trust supported the project as the Cottage Hospital was too small to be redeveloped.

Pershore Town Council clerk Ann Dobbins was also hopeful. She said: “The site occupies a prominent position at one of the entrances to the town so we hope this application will go some way towards providing a solution for what has become an eyesore.”