CAMPAIGNERS against the early closure of Ebbw Vale Hospital gathered around 6,000 signatures on a petition urging health chiefs to think again.

The bosses are due to address Blaenau Gwent councillors on the matter on Thursday afternoon and Ebbw Vale ward representative John Rogers told the Argus they can expect hard questioning.

Protesters hope to present the petition at that meeting. Councillor Rogers said: "We have gathered signatures for three weeks and the response has been unbelievable. At the stand at Ebbw Vale market, people were queueing four and five deep," he said.

Blaenau Gwent Local Health Board and Gwent Healthcare Trust want to close the hospital by the end of this year.

Early closure is proposed because there is a £2m repair bill and concerns about security, isolation of staff, difficulty in complying with infection control standards because of the building's poor condition, and potential risks of land falls from an adjoining site.

The hospital was originally due to close by 2009 on completion of the new £35 million Blaenau Gwent community hospital in Ebbw Vale. However, townspeople, led by county borough councillors, want closure plans halted and public consultation.

Councillor Rogers said the trust and the LHB consulted on plans for the new hospital in 2003. "They said Ebbw Vale Hospital would close but not until the new hospital was built.

"Now they have decided to close it early. We as a council were presented with a fait accompli and many of us are very unhappy," he said. "Ebbw Vale is the biggest conurbation in Blaenau Gwent and this will denude it of hospital services.

"People will be put in hospitals elsewhere but public transport leaves a lot to be desired.

"Put simply, how does 82-year-old Mrs Jones get over to Blaina Hospital to visit her 90-year-old husband on a regular basis? It is not on."