A community hospital which will cost £6.7m to develop and serve four Sussex towns finally looks set to be approved.

Health officials have spent six months looking at options for a hospital to serve the people of Rustington, Littlehampton, East Preston and Angmering.

Now, Arun Community Hospitals Forum and Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust have come up with their final proposal, which will give patients a one-stop health facility.

The plan is to build one new community hospital, based in Littlehampton, which will replace the existing Zachary Merton in Rustington and Littlehampton Hospitals, which will close. It will have about 42 beds and the aim is that community support and rehabilitation will also be provided to help people receive care at home.

Brian Hughes, primary care trust director, said: "In recommending this option we expect everyone to be a winner. Local people will get a much improved modern service, which better meets their individual needs.

"It does not just rely on the number of beds but a whole range of improved services, providing much more than there is at present. People will be able to remain in their own homes where we know they generally want to be rather than going to hospital for long periods of time.

"This will be made possible by the introduction of integrated community teams made up of both social services and NHS staff offering more therapy, rehabilitation and intensive nursing care.

"The idea of building the new hospital alongside the current Littlehampton Health Centre as an integrated development gives additional benefits which would not be realised if the Zachary Merton site were used. Patients would be able to visit a one stop site for hospital, outpatient and health centre services."

On top of the £6.7 million needed to build the new hospital, additional money will be needed to cover the running costs such as staffing and the community teams.

The final proposal has been put forward from a possible 46 suggestions. Some of these included creating a mental health and social services hospital at Littlehampton Hospital and expanding Rustington or transforming Littlehampton Police Station into a major hospital for the area.

The new proposal has received support from Rosemary Orpin, Littlehampton Town Councillor.

She said: "It is a very exciting proposal. We have been working very hard to come up with the best service that we possibly could for the local community and this plan meets all of the criteria we have been working to and optimises all the facilities. It will provide a much better service. I am really proud to be a part of it."