Campaigners say they have no confidence in assurances by Oxfordshire health chiefs that the accident and emergency department at Banbury's Horton Hospital is safe from closure.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust issued the denial after Tory leader David Cameron included the Horton on a list of casualty units to be axed.

The trust immediately refuted the claim.

But George Parish, leader of the Save the Horton campaign, said: "History tells us we have good reason to be suspicious of any denials made by the trust.

"In February 2004, the trust said it was committed to maintaining a paediatric service at the Horton and that it was not planning any changes to the maternity service."

the trust later proposed a midwifery-led unit, and the closure of the in-patient children's ward and the special care baby unit.

Mr Parish added: "Last year, the trust denied it had put the whole of the site forward as a housing development area, but was later forced to admit that it had included the hospital on a list of potential development sites."

Helen Peggs, head of communications at the trust, said: "The Conservative Party document erroneously stated that the A&E department at the Horton was under threat of closure.

"Current proposals are to invest in more consultant time for the A&E department, rather than to close it."

Banbury's Conservative MP Tony Baldry said: "While there is no immediate threat to A&E, there is no example of a hospital that has seen children's and maternity services downgraded without that having a knock-on impact on the range of services offered by A&E."