Eighteen beds - complete with patients - will be placed in a market square next Wednesday (Sept 30) - to represent the impact on the town's hospital.

The closures, which would lead to one of the wards at Abingdon Community Hospital being shut, have been earmarked by the Oxfordshire Health Authority as part of plans to save more than £1.5m a year.

The final decision currently lies with Health Secretary Frank Dobson after patients' watchdog, the Oxfordshire Community Health Council, decided to formally appeal against the plans.

Campaigners want as many local people as possible to deluge Mr Dobson with letters protesting about the planned cuts. Lesley Legge, co-ordinator of the Campaign Against Bed Closures Committee, said: "We need to keep the pressure on. We want Mr Dobson to know how we feel about this."

Campaigners have estimated that as many as 747 fewer patients a year would be treated at Abingdon if the closures were given the go-ahead.

Mrs Legge would like as many people as possible to visit the Market Place between 1am and noon and offer their support. She is also hoping volunteers will help fill the beds to help draw attention to the hospital's plight.

She said: "Abingdon needs its hospital to stay the way it is. Shutting these beds would be a very short-sighted thing to do."

The Herald has launched its own Save Our Community Hospitals campaign and sample letters protesting at the cuts are available to sign at our office at 41, Stert Street. Once they have been signed and dated, they will be sent to Mr Dobson.

If you would prefer to write your own letter, address it to Mr Frank Dobson, Health Secretary, c/o House of Commons, London SW1A OAA.

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