Kent county councillors have given their "strong support" to plans for a £20million community hospital in a Kent town centre.

At a meeting of the KCC Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, they said they wanted to see a central site in Dover developed for "a modern community hospital for the people of Dover and surrounding area by 2011".

Their decision followed a meeting in May when they called on the East Kent Coastal Primary Care Trust, the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust and Dover District Council to work together to find a site for "community hospital services".

Since then, a number of sites have been investigated, including the existing Buckland Hospital site.

But the authorities favour land next to Dover Health Centre in Maison Dieu Road and councillors were told on Friday that because that site is already in public ownership, work on building the new hospital could start next year and would be completed by 2011.

Former Public and Patient Involvement Forum (PCT) member Lorraine Sencicle made a passionate plea to the committee to back the scheme.

Reg Hansell, who is campaigning for a "proper hospital" on a greenfield site at Whitfield, said the town centre site would be landlocked, parking would be difficult and there would be congestion on the town's one-way system.

The committee was told that with land aquisition and infrastructure issues, work could not start on the Whitfield site until 2012.