Angry GPs in Ashburton and Bovey Tracey have thrown a lifeline to the two towns' threatened minor injury units, the 'temporary' closures of which were announced last week. Senior Bovey GP Dr Peter Stanley, and his Ashburton counterpart Dr Paul Thomas, have written to Teignbridge NHS Primary Care Trust offering medical cover until 6pm each day. They say the offer would mean nursing staff at the hospitals would be free to continue with work on the wards when casualties arrive, countering the need to find specialist MIU staff which, the trust has said, is a problem. The move comes hot on the heels of Dr Stanley's resignation from the trust's professional executive committee, a position he said he had to take after failing to get reassurances that the units would re-open. 'I was not able to get any real answers and so I resigned,' said Dr Stanley, who has served as a GP in the town and been closely associated with its hospital for 31 years. 'We are extremely concerned about the closures and we have offered to help out in our capacity as medical staff when required. 'It is something we used to do until a few years ago or so when the then casualty units became minor injury units. It is something we can cope with again as the number of patients is quite low.'

Dr Stanley said the trust's decision to close the units had been taken 'rather precipitously' and he feared for the future. 'When the new Devon PCT comes into effect in October it will be starting with two closed units which will become its baseline,' he said. 'It is unlikely they will ever open again. We really feel very strongly about this. these hospitals are part of our communities and were built by the people for the people.' The news of the doctors' offer was universally welcomed by community leaders affected by the closures. Ashburton mayor Cllr Wendy Gill described it as 'excellent news', while Cllr George Gribble, mayor of Bovey Tracey, said he was 'fully and completely supportive'. Cllr Donald Joint, mayor of Buckfastleigh, said he would do all he could to support the bid, as the geographical area covered by the two hospitals was 'vast'. 'If people in London were told they had to travel 20 miles or more to get a cut treated they wouldn't have it,' he said.