A protest was held at the New Bucks Head, the home to AFC Telford United to show the red card to proposals to downgrade the Princess Royal Hospital.

Hundreds of protesters vowed to fight against proposals to downgrade the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford during a rally in the town.

The protesters were at AFC Telford United’s New Bucks Head ground on Saturday prior to the match against Southport for a rally organised to protest against the controversial plans, which would see accident & emergency and paediatric services downscaled and moved to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Members of Telford & Wrekin Council backed the protest and said they were hopeful the rally would help sway the minds of decision-makers as a crunch meeting looms later this month.

Campaigners at the rally said the hospital provided a vital service to the borough and, if anything, should be expanded not be facing cuts.

Clive Henderson, of Wellington, said: “We have got to support local services and ensure a growing town like Telford is supported.

“The mood here is buoyant and everybody is banding together to fight these plans.”

He added: “We need an improvement in services, not cuts.”

Karen Jones, of Dawley, said she was worried how people without cars would cope with the cuts.

“How will they get to A&E in Shrewsbury without a car? If they need to get there they will have to pay for a bus or taxi all that way and back,” she said.

Telford & Wrekin council leader Councillor Andrew Eade, and Telford FM DJ Paul Shuttleworth gave speeches at the rally.

The board of Telford & Wrekin PCT is due to meet on October 27, when a decision will be made either to go ahead with the proposals or defer for further consultation.

Councillor Eade said: “This rally was about local people wanting to show their opposition to the proposals to remove services from the Princess Royal Hospital.

“The community and the council is united in its opposition to the effective downgrading of our hospital.”

Meanwhile, Telford MP David Wright and Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard are gathering signatures in support of the PRH.

Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, has urged patients, hospital staff and residents to return any outstanding petitions to him by Tuesday.

They can be sent to his office at 25 Church Street, Wellington, or direct to the House of Commons by October 20.

The petition – already approaching 15,000 names – will receive a final count before Mr Pritchard submits it to Parliament for consideration at the end of the month.

Mr Wright is collecting signatures for his ‘Say No to Shrewsbury‘ petition. At the weekend he received another two crates of letters backing his campaign.

By Andrew Morris