Plans for a new GP surgery and pharmacy, together with 14 low-cost homes in Cowley, Oxford, have been given the go-ahead.

Members of the city council's strategic development committee yesterday granted permission for the surgery off Hollow Way.

Under the proposals by the Bromford Housing Group, the existing 7,000-patient Hollow Way Medical Centre will be sold and replaced with a bigger surgery on the site of The Garden House -- a disused mansion.

The committee heard that the new surgery would not take any extra patients but there would be much more room for staff and facilities

The homes may be used by people with mental health needs who are already living in Cowley.