4:30pm Tuesday 8th December 2009
By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter
Plans for the vital redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital have moved a step closer after heritage officials backed the scheme.
English Heritage says the Barry building at the site in Brighton has been altered so much over the 180 years since it was first constructed that it no longer qualifies for protection.
The move was welcomed by hospital managers who want to pull down the building as part of a major £400 million redevelopment of the Royal Sussex.
They say the building is cramped, dilapidated and no longer suitable for 21st century medical use.
Campaigners who fight to protect Brighton and Hove's architectural heritage said they were not surprised by the decision but would be sorry to see the hospital's distinctive main entrance go.
The Barry building and the neighbouring Jubilee building both cost millions of pounds a year to keep them up to a basic standard.
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