PLANS to build a new hospital unit on a century-old cricket ground have been met with opposition.

Local residents and representatives of cricket clubs are among those objecting to an application to build on the pitch at the Warneford Hospital, Headington.

For more than 100 years, the pitch has been used by the United Oxford Hospitals Cricket Club and by other local clubs not affiliated to the hospital.

But Oxfordshire & Buckingham-shire Mental Health Trust has included the two-and-a-half acre pitch in development plans.

It plans to demolish the existing Highfield Adolescent Unit, a mental health facility for people aged between 11 and 18, and build an 18-bed replacement on the cricket ground. It also wants to build a 31-space car park on the field.

Julie Waldron, chief executive of OBMH, said the trust would make a “financial contribution” to Oxford City Council to make up for the loss of the site. She added: “The Highfield Adolescent Unit is a much needed and valued service for young people in Oxfordshire and the surrounding area. The current building is no longer suitable.”

But the plans have met with strong opposition, including from Government agencies Natural England and Sport England.

Natural England claimed the site was too close to the Lye Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest, home to rare species of plants and insects, and that the development could increase flood risk.

Sport England, meanwhile, objected because of what it claimed was a shortage of good quality cricket pitches in Oxford.

Keith Ponsford, chairman of Isis Cricket Club, which has been hiring the ground for matches for more than 22 years, said it was a “gem”.

He said: “It’s the only ‘village ground’ in Oxford. The rest are all council or university pitches.”

Peter Edwards, manager of Southfield Superstars Cricket club, which also hires the ground, added: “Pitches like this are hard to find for amateur clubs.”

Sietske Boeles, 57, of the Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association said: “I’m a psychiatrist and I’ve been to the Highfield. I know a new unit is needed and I wholly support it. What we don’t understand is why it can’t be rebuilt where it is.”

The public consultation on the plan ends tomorrow.