CAMPAIGNERS from across Southampton are set to meet tomorrow to discuss a united front in their battles to save public services.

The meeting comes after protestors gathered outside Bitterne Walk-in Centre on Saturday, as it closed for good despite a long battle to save it keep it open.

The Trade Unions Socialist Alliance played an active part in the struggle to save the service from the axe.

TUSC spokesman Nick Chaffey said: “It shut on Saturday but We wanted to show there was still opposition to it closing.

“We leafleted people in Bitterne Precinct. Most ordinary people who use the service wanted it to stay open.

“People feel angry. It is difficult for people to travel into to town and to the General hospital. The answer is to keep the service going.”

As previously reported, the leader of Southampton City Council has written to the secretary of state for health about his concerns over the closure of the Bitterne Walk-In Centre.

Labour Councillor Simon Letts has outlined his “reservations” to Jeremy Hunt about the closure of the service.

In the run-up to the closure the CCG has announced alternatives to the walk-in service, including calling the NHS 111 free helpline and going to local pharmacies.

Other alternatives include the Minor Injuries Unit at the Royal South Hants Hospital and local GP surgeries.

The meeting tomorrow will discuss the way different campaigns can co-ordinate their efforts.

Libraries, including Cobbett Road, are in jeopardy and the future of manning levels at Hightown Fire Station are also in doubt.

The meeting will at the Avenue Campus on Higfield Road at 7.30pm. It is open to all.

Mr Chaffey said: “We will be discussing the various threats. There is clearly a need for the community to stand together.”

The exact scale of the threat will be clearer later this month when the city council produces its budget thinking before its next meeting on November 18.

Mr Chaffey added: “The city council is in its budget consultation. If the Government does not provide funding why doesn’t the city council take it on and fund it [the walk-in centre] itself?”