CABINET member Theresa May has backed ambitious plans to build a new £750 million ‘super hospital’ near High Wycombe.

The proposed ‘Royal Thames Valley Hospital’ would serve the Home Secretary’s Maidenhead constituency, as well as other surrounding areas including Wycombe, Bracknell and Slough.

The proposals have been drafted by her Conservative colleague Doctor Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell, who believes the hospital should be sited at Junction 8/9 of the M4 motorway – at the end of the A404 dual-carriageway (see related links for more)

Mrs May, in her capacity as an MP, told the Bucks Free Press: “I very much welcome Philip Lee’s work in this area.

“The proposal for a new hospital at junction 8/9 of the M4 is one that I first looked at several years ago and I am therefore very keen to see if we can make progress on it.”

Wycombe MP Steve Baker says the plans are only speculation at the moment – but wants to hear more about the idea.

Dr Lee accepts the plan would be hugely controversial, as parts of existing hospital sites such as Wycombe and Wexham Park would have to close and be sold off, but he insists there would be huge benefits for patients.

He is holding a public meeting in Marlow on Friday evening to discuss his proposals. The meeting is at 7pm at Great Marlow School.