Pembury hospital has been in operation since the 19th century

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has rejected proposals for a hospital next to the Knights Park retail development, put forward by developers Kilmartin Properties Ltd.

The decision means plans by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust for a new hospital at the existing Pembury Hospital site will go ahead.

It marks the end of a long-running tussle over where a new hospital for the area should be built.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council had turned down the Knights Park proposal on the basis that it was a greenfield site and a public inquiry was held this year which also rejected the plan.

Last week, a High Court judge ruled the council had acted properly in the way it handled the developer's plans, after Kilmartin Properties brought a judicial review.

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

The building of the hospital has been delayed by the wrangle, but this decision by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is expected to finally clear the way.

On Tuesday, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council chief executive Rodney Stone, said the news was "considerable vindication for the line that the council has taken".

He said: "I hope these decisions will now clear the way for a much needed new hospital for the area."

In October this year, Tunbridge Wells MP Archie Norman said the area had been waiting for six years for a new hospital and called for a swift decision from the government.

A new hospital for Tunbridge Wells was first talked about in the 1960s.

Plans were in place to build one in 1997, before a review of health services in the area saw the scheme shelved.