THOUSANDS of shoppers signed a petition as part of a town's battle to save its community hospital.

A hospital bed and demonstrators dressed as patients and nurses greeted shoppers in the centre of Wantage on Saturday to draw attention to plans to cut the number of beds at Wantage Hospital, in Garston Lane, from 24 to 18. The hospital's 24-hour minor casualty service and respite care is also under review.

The bed closure plans are part of a major review of services at community hospitals throughout Oxfordshire aimed at saving £1.5m per year.

More than 3,700 names were collected during the demonstration, bringing the total of people who have signed the petition so far to about 5,000.

Auxiliary nurse Angie Rushton said: "The support has been amazing but we knew beforehand the strength of feeling here. This hospital is very important to the people."

She added: "We know what people need and we need the beds.

"The ones I feel most for are the people who care for relatives at home 24 hours a day and look forward to the respite care their relatives receive from the hospital." Once a month, they come in for respite care for a week. If you take that away from people who care for relatives, what are they going to have? Who is going to care for them?"

Members of the public who signed the petition also felt strongly.

Mum-of-four Gill Crane, of Warmans Close, Wantage, said she was only too aware of the vital service the hospital provided to the town.

The dental hygienist said: "I think it will be a disaster if we have to go to Oxford or Didcot instead. "Having four daughters, I know how important the hospital is. One of my daughters was cared for there after a riding accident, another broke her jaw. When I had my last baby, I was transferred to Wantage and the service was like a five-star hotel."

Barbara Newbold, 69, of Charlton Heights, Wantage, had both of her children at the town hospital. She said: "I don't think they realise how strongly people feel."Design engineer Andrew Lockley, 38, of Rosebay Crescent, Grove, said the local health authorities had been put in a difficult position because the Government wasn't allocating enough money to the National Health Service.

He said: "I think it is regrettable because of the pressure there is for beds. The only real answer is to make money available at the higher level. There needs to be more in the kitty." Although he has never used the hospital himself, he knows of others who have.

"I have always been impressed by the care they have received. A former colleague was in there until he died, and they were good to him."

Mrs Rushton added: "The support we have received is quite heartening."

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