A green travel plan is being drawn up in a bid to cut the number of cars visiting hospital sites.

The draft proposals were unveiled at a Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust board meeting yesterday.

Ideas being considered include car sharing and providing more shelters and secure areas for bikes and motorbikes.

Car parking spaces at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath are at a premium, with visitors, patients and staff struggling to find places.

There are more than 500 places at the Royal Sussex, with 1,000 staff permits issued and 2,000 patients and visitors regularly trying to find places to park.

At the Princess Royal, there are 1,010 spaces, 1,800 permits and about 4,000 visitors.

It will cost the trust more than £500,000 to bring in the changes but in the long-term, it is hoped these will save money.

Managers also hope it will ease congestion.

Other proposals include:

The trust buying staff an annual bus pass and deducting the charges monthly from their pay packets
Joining a car club scheme providing spaces in bays and streets around the Royal Sussex for registered cars for ten hours Monday to Friday
Providing pool cars for the exclusive use of staff on official trust business, which will be based in up to ten spaces on each main hospital site.

Trust director of facilities Lee Soden said: "The long-term aim is to try and make the most we have of the limited spaces available and find alternative forms of transport."

The trust has recently joined forces with Compass Travel to provide a free bus link between the Royal Sussex and Princess Royal for staff and patients with appointments.

The scheme was launched at the beginning of the month and has already proved popular.

The trust has also not ruled out establishing a park-and-ride scheme, possibly at Brighton Racecourse, in the future.

The changes may prove unpopular with some staff as there are also plans to revamp the existing car permit scheme at both hospitals, leading to people paying more for a parking place.

Pat Grant, the staff representative on the board, said workers at this stage were not opposed to changes but said the proper infrastructure and alternative transport measures should be in place before they came into force.