Plans to build a psychiatric hospital near homes in Knowle are to be fought in the High Court.

A proposed new psychiatric unit has angered many in the area. The Knowle Open Spaces Action Committee now has a petition of 200 signatures against the scheme.

A replacement is needed for Barrow Hospital in Barrow Gurney. But campaigners say building the new unit in Brislington is too close to a primary school.

Barrow Hospital in North Somerset is ageing and the hospital trust wants to move it to Brislington, in the south of Bristol.

The mental health charity MIND also argues the site would be too noisy for patients, as it is close to a busy road.

The proposed area is rich with wildlife.

"It's a very rich wildlife site and there has been a very strong protest against an increase volume of traffic," said Dennis Stuckey, the chairman of the local protest group.

"Patients will not get the seclusion they get at the 150 acres site."

Opponents argue that there is enough space for the development at the existing hospital, which is run by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnerships NHS Trust.

Protesters have accused Bristol City Council and the health authority of putting commercial interests over social and ecological implications.