HEALTH Secretary Patricia Hewitt has been asked to spell out who will benefit from the multi-million-pound development of a sensitive meadow site in Headington.

Plans to develop 20 acres of open meadow next to Warneford Hospital have been opposed by local residents.

And in recent weeks they have challenged the local mental health trust's repeated claim that money from the development would be ploughed back into the trust to improve facilities for patients.

Amid growing concern that the money may not be invested locally, Oxford East MP Andrew Smith has called on the Health Secretary to clarify where the money would go.

The importance of the site emerged when Junior Health Minister Liam Byrne revealed that the Warneford Hospital land was considered the NHS's sixth most valuable "immovable fixed asset", worth £30.9m.

Mr Smith, in a Parliamentary question, has also asked Ms Hewitt to clear up confusion about who actually owns the valuable site.

Mr Smith said: "Local people would be outraged if profits from development didn't go into local mental health services."

The mental health trust wants to create accommodation for 685 students and housing for 324 key workers. The plans were rejected at an area committee in January. The decision, however, was advisory and the scheme is still to go to the city's strategic development committee.

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Trust said it was confident it would eventually receive the money.