Candle lit vigil to be held outside Weston General Hospital

Campaigners in Weston-super-Mare will hold a candle lit vigil outside the town's hospital to protest ongoing A&E closures.

Weston General Hospital's Accident and Emergency department has been closing between 10pm and 8am since July due to staffing issues.

The vigil has been organised by Save Weston A&E ahead of a Hospital Board meeting tomorrow morning.

Campaigner Helen Thornton says protesters will "provide carol sheets, from which we will sing traditional Christmas carols and some special NHS songs!"

The vigil is the latest in a series of protests since the overnight closures were announced.

Save Weston A&E says it finds the current situation "surprising".

"The hospital leadership have recently announced that A&E will not reopen overnight before Christmas because they have still not recruited sufficient Drs and Nurses to staff it overnight.

"We are also disappointed and very worried by the decision now that winter is here and winter pressures are likely to increase ambulance journeys overnight to Bristol and Taunton, not forgetting that those hospitals will be facing their own winter pressures."

The vigil will begin tonight at 6pm.