Councillors preferred building on a site next to Pembury Hospital

Two sites have been considered - one next to an existing hospital, which was favoured by local councillors.

But the firm behind the other scheme called for a review, putting both plans on hold and in some doubt.

The outcome of the review, which opened on Tuesday, could decide where and when a new hospital is built, bringing a 40-year wait to an end.

Tunbridge Wells is currently served by the Kent and Sussex Hospital and a second hospital on the outskirts of the town in Pembury.

The scheme preferred by councillors would see a new hospital built next to the 19th Century Pembury Hospital.

The review was called for by Kilmartin Properties, the company promoting the rival scheme of a hospital being built on green space at Knights Park.

Plans to build on land at Knights Park were rejected by councillors

Councillors rejected this plan because they did not want the fields built on.

The firm claimed its plans had not been fairly considered and now two of Kilmartin's applications will be reviewed by a government inspector.

Company spokesman Bruce Cova said: "What I want to see as a local person is the best hospital possible, ideally at best price.

"What has been shown from recent reports is that it does give best price but it has other major advantages as well."

A new hospital for Tunbridge Wells was first widely talked about in the 1960s and plans were firmly in place to build one in 1997 before a review of health services in Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone saw the scheme shelved.