PLANS for a new £8million multi-storey car park at Southampton General Hospital have been given the green light.

Hospital chiefs say the new block will provide space for 800 cars and ease parking pressures in and around the site.

The proposals were revealed in the Daily Echo last year as part of a £12million plan to improve parking and access in and out of the hospital.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust says the money for the scheme will not be diverted from providing hospital services and come from its joint venture with construction firm Interserve.

The Daily Echo has revealed that hospital bosses made £3.5million from parking charges in 2013, with a third of that coming from staff.

The plans for the block were first revealed by the trust as it undertook consultation earlier this year.

Its planning application to the city council has now been approved, meaning work can start.

The new block for staff will be between four and six storeys high and have spaces for 778 cars.

It will be built in a site off Laundry Road and will only be four storeys on the side fronting nearby homes.

While it is intended to be used by staff hospital chiefs say it will ease pressure elsewhere on the site and free up spaces for patients and visitors.

It is also intended to prevent people parking on the surrounding residential streets, where some residents now have to pay the council for annual permits.

The plans received a mixed response from residents when they were first revealed, with some saying it would be an “eyesore” and others welcoming it as easing issues on their roads.