Bosses from Lancashire Care NHS Trust are expected to choose the Royal Albert Fields, in Ashton Road, Lancaster, as their "preferred option" for a new multi-million pound, 150-bed unit.

On Tuesday night, Royal Albert Fields Residents (RARA) held a meeting to discuss the plans and ways of stopping any proposals to build on fields behind their homes.

Paul Finlay and Alison Sharman, from RARA, told the 40-strong group about concerns over traffic and possible devaluation of property.

Several residents also expressed concerns over a mental health unit being built so close to family homes.

Meanwhile, Coun Chris Coates, who sits on Lancaster City Council's planning committee, told the group he believed any application from the trust for a unit at Royal Albert Fields would be rejected at the planning stage.

He said: "There are two big issues that could stop the Royal Albert Fields application."

The presence of an existing unit, at Ridge Lea, off Quernmore Road, and the well-documented traffic problems in South Lancaster would count against the NHS, he said.

He added: "I think we are about to let down the people who suffer from mental health by putting a mental health unit in an inappropriate site.

"Traffic in South Lancaster is almost at capacity."

The Lancashire Care NHS Trust board meeting to decide on preferred sites for four new county mental health units will be held in Accrington on February 28.

For more information visit www.lancashirecare.nhs.uk.