Bicester town councillors have agreed to meet the first local authority in the country to build its own community hospital - to see if a similar project could work in Bicester.

Support for the meeting came in the same week the North East Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust appeared to reject a housing developer's offer of land for a new hospital.

Countryside Properties, which is building the town's new south west development of 1,585 homes, says it will dedicate a site in the 287 acres for a "health village", which could include a new hospital.

But in a letter to the town council, Jonathan Coombes, head of community hospital development for the PCT, said: "As you know the PCT already owns the site upon which the current community hospital stands, as well as a significant piece of land alongside.

"Such a site offers ample scope for any planned development in the future and negates any requirement for additional land from another source."

Bicester councillor Les Sibley said he was disappointed with the PCT's response and asked fellow councillors if they would agree to see a presentation by Wychavon District Council on how it built a 26-bed hospital in Worcestershire.

Mr Sibley said he believed by selling the site of the current hospital in Oxford Road, and taking up the developer's offer of land, the PCT could raise enough cash to run a new hospital.

The PCT plans to replace Bicester's current 12-bed hospital with a primary care centre, where beds would be provided by a local care home.

In a statement, the PCT said: "It is unlikely that the land would raise enough money to run the hospital for many years to come."

It also denied it had completely rejected the offer of land.