A historic children's hospital has been sold for more than £10 million.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children in Dyke Road, Brighton, will close next year and treatment for youngsters will be carried out at a new building at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust says the money will be ploughed back into the new Royal Alex and hospital services.

The Dyke Road site has been a hospital for more than 100 years but most of its buildings are old and cramped and not suitable for 21st Century healthcare.

Developer George Wimpey is expected to use the site to provide houses and flats, including some affordable homes.

Trust director of facilities and capital development Lee Soden said: "We are delighted to have agreed this sale with George Wimpey.

"The proceeds from the sale will be used towards the cost of the new hospital and other capital developments to improve services to patients."

Paul Bonnett, the chairman of Brighton and Hove Estate Agents' Association, said a two-bedroom flat on the site could go for £250,000, while a three-bedroom house could cost about £350,000.

He said: "It is in an absolutely prime location. It is close to the station and the main shopping area and has good bus links.

"It should do really well."

A survey carried out by the Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association and Westhill Residents' Association earlier this year found most people living nearby want the buildings to be saved.

The survey was sent to 2,500 homes in the area and 66 per cent of respondents said they wanted the hospital's main building to be kept.

Sixty per cent also wanted to see a mix of sale and rental housing on the site, while 72 per cent wanted part of the site to be used for a medical centre.

Almost all respondents, 96 per cent, said any development should not be higher than the buildings already in place.

The Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association applied to English Heritage to have the hospital building listed but it was turned down because much of the exterior and internal features has been altered and extended over the years.

However, the building is in a conservation area so it has some protection, which the developers will have to comply with.

Staff and patients are expected to have left the site and moved into the new multimillion-pound purpose-built hospital by next June.

George Wimpey said it was unable to comment.