Fears for the safety of mothers and babies transferred from Banbury to Oxford have been raised by MP Tony Baldry.

He will take the concerns to Health Secretary Alan Milburn at a debate in Westminster Hall, London, on Wednesday, October 10.

Mr Baldry said it could be difficult to establish responsibility for transferred patients if the Horton Hospital's maternity department was downgraded to a midwife-led unit and the special care baby unit closed.

The moves were put forward by the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust despite opposition from Banbury people and GPs.

Mr Baldry said: "This, if it goes ahead, will be the largest MLU in the country and some 26 miles - a significant ambulance journey - away from the nearest consultant-led unit at the John Radcliffe in Oxford.

"The ORH trust's own figures show a significant number of mothers who attend an MLU will need to transfer during labour to a consultant-led unit."

He added: "Who is going to accept responsibility if anything untoward should happen to a mother or her baby as a consequence of having to be transferred?

"If the Government has not done work on the figures, it cannot assert that MLUs are as safe as consultant-led units."

Mr Baldry said no analysis was expected until September 2009, when the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit was due to report.

Trust spokeswoman Helen Peggs said: "The trust is liable now and nothing will change."