THIRTEEN councillors in Worcester - only one of them from Wychavon - will tomorrow decide whether Evesham people should have any further say about plans to close three wards in the town's community hospital.

The 13 - seven county councillors and one representing each of the six districts in Worcestershire - have been asked to decide whether the proposed cuts in services put forward by the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust are "substantial".

If they decide they are, the process will then go out to public consultation for a period of up to three months.

If not, the PCT can go ahead with these and other cuts aimed at saving £1.4 million in the current financial year.

That figure represents just a small fraction of the total savings of £12.8 million the PCT has been instructed to save over the course of the year.

Failure to give the green light will lead to the need for even more savings if public consultation is required, the director of public health and deputy chief executive of the PCT, Dr Tim Davies warned.

"If they say we have to go to public consultation then we will do so," he said. "But we will have to find more finance at a later date."

Tomorrow's meeting of the County Council's health overview and scrutiny committee is due to begin at 10am and is expected to be standing room only, as opponents of the cuts attempt to make their voice heard.

The depth of anger at the cuts in Evesham was made clear at a meeting organised by Wychavon District Council's health overview and scrutiny committee at the town's Northwick Hotel.

More than 200 people crowded into the room to hear speaker after speaker denounce the proposed cuts in services which include the closure of the Macmillan cancer ward and Bredon Ward.

Speakers, who included Evesham Hospital matron Sue Baker, Macmillan consultant Dr Judy Dale, former Mayor and chairman of the Friends of Evesham Hospital, Cllr Frances Smith, were heard by Paul Bates, the acting chief executive of the PCT.

However, on Wednesday last week, the Trust decided to go ahead with the cuts as proposed.

It had hoped to receive the go-ahead from the county's overview committee later the same day, but members decided they needed more time to consider the detail of the proposals and delayed their decision until tomorrow's meeting.

In the meantime, the demand for public consultation has grown and former members have reformed the Campaign Group for Evesham Hospital under the logo Save Our Services.

The group is expected to meet again to discuss the decision taken at tomorrow's meeting in Worcester.