THOUSANDS of residents in a New Forest town are urging health chiefs to scrap proposals to close their local community hospital.

Fordingbridge Hospital is one of five facilities under threat from a controversial strategy drawn up by New Forest Primary Care Trust, which wants more patients to be treated at home.

One of two options put forward by the trust would result in the closure of all 106 beds in Romsey and the New Forest.

Fordingbridge and Romsey will be spared if the trust supports the other option, which confines bed closures to the hospitals at Hythe, Lyndhurst and Milford-on-Sea.

However, New Forest East MP Julian Lewis has launched a Daily Echo-backed campaign to prevent any of the buildings being closed.

Dr Lewis can count on the support of Fordingbridge residents, more than 2,000 of whom have signed a petition calling for their local hospital to be retained.

The Daily Echo has also launched a petition opposing the plans put forward by the trust.

Campaigners include retired nurse Frankie James, pictured, of Burley, who said that the 31-bed Fording-bridge Hospital provided respite care and community activities for disabled people.

She added: "Without the hospital these people would either be in nursing homes or living blighted and desperate lives at home, without the support that a local community hospital can give.

"It's not possible to over-estimate the value of the hospital."

Health chiefs have vowed that locally-based teams of specialists will look after patients who are well enough to be treated at home.

However, the trust finished the 2004-2005 financial year with a deficit of more than £8m and must make savings of almost £19m by next spring.

Fordingbridge GP Dr Hywel Morris said he was not convinced that officials would be able to deliver all the community services they were promising.

New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne expressed similar fears.

He said: "The trust would have us believe that notwithstanding its current deficit it will be able to recruit teams of people to support all those patients who would have gone to Fordingbridge Hospital and treat them in their own homes.

"The idea is completely laughable."

What do you think? Contact Sarah Jones at the Daily Echo on 01590 613804 or e-mail sarah.jones@soton-echo. co.uk.