PLANS to create a communal space for student nurses studying at Colchester Hospital have been given the green light.

The East Suffolk and North Essex Trust applied to Colchester Council to create the communal recreational space.

It will be built on land adjacent to an existing accommodation block at the Turner Road site.

The planning report said: “The current medical students stay in Swan Housing accommodation (including Lisle House and Lucas Hall) for the duration of their placement which vary in length but can be for up to nine weeks.

“The accommodation does not include communal recreational space for students to meet during evenings and weekends.

“The proposed student mess would allow students staying at Colchester Hospital on placement to have the opportunity to socialise and study together in a communal space.

“It is also an opportunity for students from different medical schools and academic years to mix and share experiences.”

Students from Bart’s and the London, School of Medicine and Dentistry and the University of East Anglia are taught at Colchester Hospital.