A stunning garden for spinal injuries patients at the Orthopaedic Hospital is another step closure after plans were officially submitted.

Designed by award-winning gardener Bunny Guinness, the ambitious £675,000 project will be based at the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries in Gobowen thanks to the Horatio's Garden team.

It will be only the fourth of its kind in the UK created in memory of Horatio Chapple, who wanted to be a doctor and volunteered at a spinal unit in Salisbury before he tragically died at the age of 17 when he was killed by a polar bear during a trip to the Arctic.

The garden will feature a garden room, which aims to give patients and their families time away from the ward.

There will also be raised beds to encourage patients to grow vegetables and flowers, plus a series of different surfaces and ramps for patients to practice on, and a small play area for visiting children.

A statement by agents 3W Architecture Limited says: "A small chicken run and chicken house will add interest and hopefully engage with patients and visitors alike. A raised serpentine rill constructed from local stone will help bring in wild life and will help create a relaxing but mesmerizing element. Finally an area of woodland planting just inside the boundary with the highway will add substantial vegetation to help create a green buffer and soften the current hospital landscape.

"Gardens are not static and to ensure that the plantings and buildings are successful the charity will employ a head gardener and project co-ordinator once the garden is open who together will care for the garden and buildings."

An appeal to raise money for the garden was launched officially in October after the plans were first revealed to coincide with the Chelsea Flower Show.

It is hoped work can begin by the end of the year and will take around six months to complete.

Meanwhile, the hospital has submitted plans to create a new car park with spaces for more than 1,000 vehicles following the demolition of a unit to the rear of the site. It will also include electric charging points.