HEALTH chiefs leading a move to scale down Malton's maternity wing have been handed a bundle of 2,000 signatures opposing the plans.

NHS trust executives accepted the Gazette & Herald petition at a meeting in Malton on Wednesday and faced a barrage of protest from the public.

Members of the Ryedale Area Committee voted unanimously to oppose any change to local maternity services at Malton Hospital and urged health bosses to improve services by employing doctors specially trained in child birth at the site.

Under proposals put forward by Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care Trust, its hopes to stop all deliveries at the community hospital and encourage people to have home births or travel to York and Scarborough.

Chairing the meeting, Coun Michael Knaggs said the trust should be investing more services into rural communities, rather than taking them away.

He said: "These suggestions are going back 50 years and they are quite frankly ridiculous. Women have security in a hospital and it's disgraceful to take this option away."

Around 50 members of the public packed the meeting and posed tough questions to the trust's chief executive, Iain McInnes and medical director, Dr Ian Holland.

They robustly criticised suggestions that women in labour would be given bus tokens to travel to hospital and questioned the trust's motive for the changes which they say is a "safety issue".

Coun John Blackie, chair of the county council's influential scrutiny of health committee, said: "If we should see the maternity unit closed down due to financial reasons I would prefer some honesty (from the trust). There have been arguments put forward that travelling to York or Scarborough will be safer. Unfortunately, I see no evidence to back this up and this kind of argument is disappointing. I would like to see some facts and figures to back this up."

Responding to an hour-and-a-half of probing questions, the chief executive insisted that the moves were not motivated by savings and said they were looking to set up a new six-bed midwife led maternity unit in Scarborough to cope with extra demand.

Dr Ian Holland added: "I support this because of safety issues. Unfortunately, I see when complications happen and one baby's death is one too many. I have sleepless nights because of this. We live in a world where if something goes wrong then the legal boys are on our backs."

The consultation period looking into changes in maternity services in Malton, Bridlington and Whitby hospitals will continue until Friday, March 18, after which trust bosses will announce any changes.