PLANS for 354 new homes at a former mental hospital have been backed by councillors.

South Oxfordshire District Council has given planning permission to developer Linden Homes to convert the derelict Fairmile Hospital in Cholsey, near Wallingford.

The original asylum building, which is now listed, will be converted into 130 apartments, with other homes built in the grounds.

A third of the homes will be social housing or available through a shared-ownership scheme.

Existing farm buildings will be turned into offices, shops and a restaurant, and the cricket pavilion will be refurbished.

Fairmile Sports and Social Club is holding discussions with Linden Homes about its place in the redevelopment.

The project is part of a programme run by the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) aimed at converting 96 former hospital sites into 14,000 new homes.

The Fairmile Hospital closed in 2003.