Health row over money

Campaigners are calling on trustees holding hundreds of thousands of pounds for health care provision in Market Drayton to hand over the cash.Nearly 200 people packed into the Festival Drayton Centre last night to discuss plans to restore services at Market Drayton's cottage hospital.

During the meeting it was claimed that the Drayton Action for Health Trust, which was set up to administer funds left by Market Drayton Hospital League of Friends, should have about £375,000 at its disposal.

Campaigners believe the cash could help reopen the facility.

They claim about £750,000 was raised by the league of friends and then passed to the Trust when the hospital closed - of which half was returned to those who donated it - and land at the site was sold in 1995 for £45,000. There was also £140,000 pledged in a will from 1935 thought to have been given to the Primary Care Trust.

Bob Yardley, who is spearheading the campaign, said he had received thousands of letters, phone calls and e-mails in support of reopening the hospital.

He said: "We will ask the trust to explain themselves and their attitude - they seem to think fit to ignore us, which I find surprising.

"We will ask where the money has gone and what it has been spent on. The closure of the hospital had a traumatic effect."

At the meeting, residents resolved to ask the trust to explain what had happened to the money and to provide accounts for the last five years. A committee will also be formed to drive forward the campaign.

But Jennifer Longsdale, of the The Drayton Action for Health Trust, today said funds would not simply be handed over to the campaigners, who as of yet did not have a business plan.

She said: "We invested about £300,000 of which we use the interest to help the people of Market Drayton and surrounding villages.

"We have provided equipment for various groups, such as the First Responders, and provide funding for people who, for example, need to pay for care at home.

"We couldn't just give the money away, there are a number of trustees who would have to discuss any such idea," she said.

By Abigail Bates and Andy Rogers