ORGANISERS of the highly successful campaign to save the town's hospital last year were celebrating again this week.

They welcomed the announcement in a Government White Paper which lifted the threat hanging over community and cottage hospitals by seeking to provide more facilities in the community.

Evesham MP Peter Luff, said: "It looks like the future of Evesham Community Hospital is even more secure than we thought."

He said the health secretary Patricia Hewitt's rethink about community hospitals was due to the excellent work done by local people to save their hospital.

"She has told Primary Care Trusts not to close community hospitals but to transfer more work to them, which we always maintained was the right thing for Evesham."

Councillor Frances Smith, mayor of Evesham and chairman of The Friends of Evesham Community Hospital, who backed the Journal's Save Our Hospital campaign which included a mass rally in Market Square last July and a trip to Downing Street to deliver a 30,000-strong petition pleading for a rethink on closures at Evesham, was visiting Evesham's twin town of Melsungen when the Journal broke the news on Tuesday.

"It justifies all the hard work and commitment given by the people of Evesham to the campaign," she said.

"Local people have always been fiercely proud of their hospital as was evidenced by the way they rallied round when it came under threat last year. I hope now that far from being threatened, facilities at the hospital will be improved and we can look forward to a period of stability."

Broadway GP Dr Neil Townshend, who was also involved with SOH, said: "We see the Government announcement as a very positive one."

Paul Bates, acting chief executive of the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, said: "At the Primary Care Trust, we will be continuing with our programme for the development of community hospitals and community services in South Worcestershire. We are also pleased Pershore Hospital is in the process of being built."