Cherwell District Council will not hand over £1m towards the building of a new community hospital in Bicester until they have looked at the ramifications of giving cash to the NHS.

But Labour district, town and county councillor Les Sibley believes he has scored a victory by getting Cherwell councillors to consider the idea.

The district council's Labour Group wants the authority to transfer £1m, earmarked for a project to rebuild Bicester Town Council's offices, to the North-East Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust for the first phase of a new 30-bed hospital to replace the existing 12-bed hospital in Oxford Road.

The PCT presently has only £3m to spend and is proposing to build a primary care centre at the site.

The council's ruling Conservative group have sent the Labour group's proposal to a scrutiny committee. The money is also now been earmarked for Bicester community improvements.

Mr Sibley said: "I think I have scored a victory. It's a better situation than before and the £1m has been redesignated."

Council leader Barry Wood said: "We want to consider all the ramifications and the implications of the council bailing out the NHS. There is the danger too of the NHS taking £1m from the PCT on the basis that we had given the PCT the money." On Thursday, Bicester residents will take part in a town poll over a proposal to downgrade the town's new hospital.