A councillor who publicly opposed controversial plans for a new GP 'super surgery' in Oxford hit out after she was prevented from voicing her concerns at a special meeting.

Sushila Dhall, Green city councillor for Carfax, is angry because she could not speak about the proposed project at the Radcliffe Infirmary, in Woodstock Road.

The council said she was barred from taking part because she had already criticised the application in public.

The Oxford City NHS Primary Care Trust wants to demolish an existing building at the Infirmary site to make way for a four-storey building with GP surgeries, a pharmacy, a caf and shops.

An outline planning application was discussed by the city council's central, south and west area committee meeting.

Councillors' comments - which were all negative - will be passed on to the council's strategic development control committee, which will take the final decision.

Ms Dhall said: "Despite being a democratically-elected representative of Oxford West Central on the county council and Carfax ward on the city council, I spent the greater part of an hour standing in the street outside the meeting, unable to participate or even stand at the back of the room listening.

"The reason I was sent out was that I have publicly expressed my opposition to the part-privatisation of the health service, the increased traffic such a big centre would generate locally, and the problems of accessibility to the centre for local people."

A city council spokesman said: "All members are advised, as was councillor Dhall in this instance, to be mindful as to whether any comments made by them in relation to individual planning applications prior to their consideration might lead to a perception among the public that they would not have an 'open mind'.

"The opportunity for members to publicly comment on applications before they are determined is curtailed by case law decided by the courts and the public ought to be understanding of that."