A CAMPAIGN to stop the closure of Bovey Tracey Hospital went to 10 Downing Street this afternoon.

The town’s League of Friends chairman Avril Kerswell popped over to the Prime Minister’s London base to hand in a petition with more than 400 signatures.

All signatories had answered a questionnaire expressing their concerns over plans to shut the hospital and replace it with a more home-based medical service for the local community.

Avril Kerswell said after her 3pm appointment: ‘I handed the petition to a policeman on the door who made the assurance that all such deliveries are looked at and taken seriously.’

Local MP Mel Stride said of today’s action: ‘I have pressed the Southern Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) very hard on the need to fully engage with the community in Bovey Tracey regarding the future of the town’s hospital.’

He added: ‘The fact that so many people have signed this petition - and campaigners have come all the way to Westminster to deliver it - shows the overwhelming local desire to retain such a valued local facility.’

And he stressed: ‘I will be writing to the CCG urging them to take the petition very seriously and to fully respond to the concerns raised within it.

‘It is also vital that more information is forthcoming from the CCG regarding their plans for a health and wellbeing hub in either Bovey Tracey or Chudleigh if we are to have a proper opportunity to fully evaluate their proposals.’