AN EMPTY shop premises next to Wycombe Hospital is being used by Bucks Healthcare Trust staff for parking and storage – and discussions are ongoing about the future of the site.

The Office Depot site at the bottom of Marlow Hill has been empty for months since the business shut down and residents have been left wondering about what might replace it.

But a letter seen by the Bucks Free Press confirms that Bucks Healthcare Trust – which runs the county’s hospitals – has secured a two-year lease on the site and is currently using it for storage and parking.

Neil Macdonald, chief executive of the Trust, said the use of the empty site for storage is “freeing up space elsewhere in the estate to be used for patient services”.

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The car park has also been converted to staff parking, which Mr Macdonald said is “enabling us to create more patient parking next to the hospital”.

He said: “Overall this has increased our parking capacity by nearly 20 per cent making it easier for staff and patients to park safely”.

He also confirmed that they are “currently in discussions” with the developer regarding the future use of the site.

It has not yet been confirmed what could happen to the Office Depot building in the future.

The news comes just weeks after the Bucks Free Press revealed how the future of what former Wycombe MP Steve Baker called the “increasingly tired 1960s tower block” was up for discussion.

Health secretary Matt Hancock agreed to make a visit to High Wycombe so they can talk about what the future holds for Wycombe Hospital - as Mr Macdonald revealed they are having to rely on “ageing” technology and have had to put off maintenance to their buildings.

He said Bucks’ hospitals need more funding so they can become “world class”.