Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard today vowed to prove moves to downgrade accident and emergency services at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford would cost lives.

The Tory MP spoke out as Shrewsbury MP and fellow Tory Daniel Kawczynski said he had written to every MP in the county in the hope they would join forces to get a House of Commons debate on the “most important issue” in the area.

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Mr Pritchard said he would give “empirical evidence” that plans to limit A&E services at the Princess Royal would end in lives being lost unnecessarily.

The MP said he had found evidence, from a study published by the Emergency Medical Journal, which he claimed proved that for every 10km further people had to travel to A&E there was a one per cent increase in mortality rates.

Mr Pritchard said: “This independent evidence suggests that downgrading of Telford A&E would definitely cost lives.”

The MP is to present his evidence to Health Secretary, Andy Burnham.

A proposal before county health chiefs recommends, as the best option, moving the most serious A&E and acute cases, vascular surgery and in-patient paediatrics to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital by 2012/13.

An alternative option of transferring services to Telford from the RSH would cost three times as much and take longer to build, a report to health chiefs says.

Mr Kawczynski said: “This is such a massive issue, the most important issue to constituents and I hope together we can make a difference.”

County health chiefs will meet this week to discuss the proposals.