HEALTH care services in Melksham are under pressure because of the town's rapidly expanding population according to a councillor.

Former mayor Vic Oakman is so worried the existing medical and dental practices won't be able to cope with the extra demand, he is calling for an urgent consultation to take place.

On Monday evening, Melksham Town Council's planning committee discussed the problem and agreed to voice their concerns to the newly-formed Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, which is yet to decide on the fate of community hospitals in the district.

Cllr Oakman, who asked for the discussion to be placed on the agenda said: "This is something that has been bugging me for some time.

"This (expanding population) is causing a colossal burden on our health services. We don't know if we are losing our hospital or keeping our hospital. We need to ask the health authority what is happening."

Earlier this year the town council wrote to GP surgeries in Melksham asking how a 750-home development, planned for the east of the town, would affect demand for health care provision in the town.

The Spa practice wrote back to say it could take an extra 1,000 patients, but the council did not receive replies from any other surgeries.

"With the houses in the east of Melksham you are looking at an extra 3,000 people from that development alone, not to mention other developments such as Thackeray Crescent and The Manor Primary School," said Cllr Oakman.

"When it comes to planning if it is found a development will harm wildlife such as a few newts or something like that, then it won't be built. But planners don't show concern for thousands of extra patients, and that is something we need to sort out."

As well as GP surgeries potentially struggling to keep up with demand, councillors also raised concerns that dentists are overflowing and will be unable to take on extra patients that move into new developments in the town.

Cllr Davina Griffin said: "It would be useful and appropriate for us to write to the health authority.

"When new houses are built people talk about pressure being put on infrastructure such as education, so I do think it's wrong that other infrastructure like health care is not taken into account.

"When we write to the health authority it would also be useful to get information from the surgeries about how many people they can take on additionally."

Cllr Richard Wiltshire said the concerns should be passed on to West Wiltshire District Council as well.

The letter to the Wiltshire PCT will highlight councillors' concerns and ask what can be done to provide services for the expanding population.