A multi-million pound secure unit for mentally ill patients who have committed offences will go ahead in Bradford sooner than planned.

The low security unit at Lynfield Mount Hospital, Daisy Hill, will be open in December 2003.

The city's forensic mental health service, run by Bradford District Care Trust, has been given £500,000 of regional NHS money to forge ahead with the project.

But the speed of the development has alarmed local residents and ward councillors who say there has been no consultation.

Winifred Charlwood, 62, whose home at Moss Side overlooks the hospital, said: "We need full assurances that these people will be properly looked after.

"I have five young grandchildren who visit every Saturday and we want a promise that safety procedures will be in place. We live near the hospital and they never tell us anything."

And Councillor Stanley King (Con, Heaton) said: "Unless they want to encounter strong opposition, it is in their best interests to consult local residents as soon as possible. Lynfield Mount is in the middle of a densely populated area and it is the Trust's basic duty to consult with them."

The £3 million project will be funded with the £500,000 regional funding, plus cash the Trust expects to make by selling off land or buildings as well as some set aside for building work.

Originally it was estimated that the scheme, which will provide a 36-bed forensic unit to replace the existing Kestrel Unit, would cost £5.9 million. But a revised price tag of £3 million means there is no need to go through a lengthy Private Finance Initiative process.

The new unit will provide 36 open and low-security in-patient beds as part of the trust's forensic mental health service and a further 16 in-patient beds for the assessment and treatment of people with learning disabilities, in two separate units.

For the first time in Bradford there will be specialist accommodation for women requiring low-security care, who previously have had to be cared for outside the district.

The learning disability part of the scheme replaces in-patient beds which are now in the remote Westwood House in the south west of the city.

Running costs of £500,000 a year will be met by the four Primary Care Trusts in Bradford and Airedale, which have voiced unanimous support for the development.

Con Egan, chief executive of Bradford District Care Trust, said: "This new unit is an important step forward in improving the assessment, treatment and care of these groups of patients."