Downing Street gets A&E petition

Campaigners are worried patients will have to travel further

A campaign to save a County Durham hospital's accident and emergency unit is being taken to Downing Street.

Almost 15,000 people have signed a petition calling on health bosses to retain the casualty unit at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust is considering scrapping the unit as part of a wide-ranging review.

Campaigners are travelling to London on Monday to hand the petition in at 10 Downing Street.

The trust maintains no firm decision has been made and a consultation process is ongoing.

But opponents to the proposals, including union officials and patient groups, say the unit's closure would mean emergency patients having to travel to hospitals in Durham City or Darlington.