COUNCILLORS have called on an Oxfordshire MP to use her vote as a bargaining chip to save the Horton General Hospital.

A motion put forward at a Banbury Town Council meeting this week, calls on Banbury MP Victoria Prentis to use her Commons’ vote to save the Horton.

Proposed by Councillor Sean Woodcock, he said he hoped Ms Prentis would use her power to hold the government to ransom to protect the Horton.

He added: “A united Banbury Town Council has now called on her to do so.

“Anything less will be seriously failing her constituents.”

The unanimous motion proposed by the town council was: ‘This Council is dismayed by the decision of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to permanently downgrade maternity services at the Horton Hospital and calls on its Member of Parliament to do whatever in her power to get this decision overturned.’

Leader of the town council’s labour group Steve Kilsby added: “The duplicity of the Tories both locally and nationally takes my breath away.

“Nationally, they talk about supporting the health service, whilst removing funding from it at every opportunity.

“Locally, Victoria Prentis talks passionately about her commitment to our hospital and how she will do everything she can to retain it - and then votes in Parliament for health service cuts.” An application for a judicial review into the CCG’s split consultation has been granted and will be heard in December.