CAMPAIGNERS fighting the closure of two wards at Kendal's hospital are to take their fight on to the town's streets.

The NHS SOS Save Our Services group is to stage a demonstration in the town on the morning of Saturday, January 21, 2006.

On that date, it is almost exactly five years since midwives, parents and supporters took to the town's streets in support of the hospital's Helme Chase Maternity Unit, which was under threat at the time.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron said although the demonstration would not be a party political event, he would be giving it his full backing.

Members of NHS SOS were in Kendal town centre at the weekend, collecting hundreds more petition signatures against the proposed closure of Wards 2 and 4 at Westmorland General Hospital, as well as other health cuts. And Mr Farron will be collecting signatures at Milnthorpe Market this morning; in Ambleside and Sedbergh next Wednesday, and in Kirkby Lonsdale the following day.

As previously reported, Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust, which runs the wards, is proposing to close Ward 4, for adults with mental health problems, and move the beds to Ridge Lea Hospital in Lancaster, as it seeks to save millions of pounds and balance its books.

It is consulting on that move, and also on the closure of Ward 2 - for older mentally ill people - which would be replaced by community services.

Andrew Billson-Page, of the NHS SOS campaign, said that the group had written to Cumbria police chief constable Michael Baxter over fears about how the Mental Health Act would be implemented if the ward shut.

Under the act, a police officer who picked up someone needing assessment for a possible section would need to take the patient to a "place of safety".

If the patient was violent, he or she could be taken to Kendal police station. However, Mr Billson-Page said that in other cases the patient would have to be taken to hospital.

If Ward 4 was shut, that would force the officer to escort him or her over the county boundary, and potentially wait for an officer from Lancashire to take the patient to Lancaster.

Police spokesman Mike Head said Mr Baxter had yet to receive the letter but the police would assess any impact of a possible ward closure.

The protesters have also written to South Lakeland District Council asking for information about the Local Government Act, which gives local authorities power to hold a local referendum. SLDC spokesperson Sheila Meades said the authority would consider the issue once it had received the letter.

Meanwhile, MP Tim Farron has written to the other Morecambe Bay MPs Ben Wallace in Lancaster and Wyre; Geraldine Smith in Morecambe and Lunesdale; and Barrow and Furness MP John Hutton, to ask if they will join him in a delegation to meet Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt about NHS finances in Morecambe Bay.

The South Cumbria Mental Health User and Carer Forum, which is opposed to the closure of Ward 4, is seeking answers to questions raised at a public meeting in Kendal.

PCT chief executive Leigh Griffin emphasised again this week that the trust wanted to hear all views on the ward closures during the consultation process, which ends on January 20.

He hoped that the changes to Ward 2 could be an improvement on the services currently provided. He accepted that Ward 4 was more contentious, but said that transferring the service would free up some overheads and it was right that it should be explored through the consultation.

l MORE than 2,000 angry protesters were due to march through Penrith yesterday in a bid to save several community hospitals from closure.

Services in Brampton, Wigton, Alston and Penrith could be cut after a leaked document from the North Cumbria Health Trust outlined a cost-cutting strategy.

MP for Penrith and the Border David Maclean organised the protest in conjunction with the four hospitals' league of friends fund-raising bodies.

"I am alarmed at this latest state of affairs which is far worse than I ever forecast. I knew there was a threat against our community hospitals but I did not think that the health authority would go flat out for the destruction of our health service in rural Cumbria," he said.

l OPPOSING CUTS: Andrew Billson-Page collecting signatures in Kendal for a petition against ward closures at Westmorland General Hospital. (D5L033SB1)