GOSPORT MP Peter Viggers has challenged Prime Minister Tony Blair to halt the conversion of the town's military hospital to a civilian site.

The Royal Hospital Haslar, in Haslar Road, is due to become a civilian hospital next year.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Viggers, right, protested that the move of the Defence Medical Services to Birmingham was not working and would not work.

He asked: "Will you yield to overwhelming pressure that the only military hospital we have, Haslar Hospital in Gosport, should be retained?"

Mr Viggers criticised the treatment of injured forces personnel. He said: "When other nations expose their servicemen and women to injury they are given the best possible medical treatment - often in military hospitals, whereas ours are handed over to the NHS."

Mr Blair strongly defended the use of the NHS to treat injured military personnel. He said health staff were "doing their level best in difficult circumstances" and should not be criticised. He also acknowledged that injured troops must be treated in an environment where they felt comfortable.