Campaigners' petition for birth unit

Campaigners have raised a petition calling for the Wyre Forest Birth Unit to be reinstated at Kidderminster Hospital.

They claim 105 people signed the petition within an hour and that the public response for their cause is "excellent".

Leading the campaign is Worcestershire County councillor and Wyre Forest Labour spokesman Nigel Knowles.

He said: "Although Worcestershire Royal Hospital at Worcester is acknowledged as a good place to have a baby, the 20 miles travelling distance is not considered satisfactory in this day and age." More than £3.5 million a year investment is to be pumped into healthcare to improve services and the trust has said this could mean a midwifery unit opening in north Worcestershire.

This has prompted calls for the Wyre Forest Birth Unit, which closed in 2003 following unexpected deaths of six babies, to be reopened. John Rostill, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, has said that "under no circumstances" would he allow the centre to reopen unless he was sure women and babies would not be exposed to any avoidable risks.