SUPPORTERS and staff at Trowbridge Hospital have been left shocked and upset that the only maternity unit left in west Wiltshire will close.

The closure, announced as part of the Pathways for Change review means mums-to-be will have to travel to Chippenham for the nearest maternity unit. Kennet and north Wiltshire and west Wiltshire PCTs said the idea was to consolidate maternity care into one midwife-led unit and also declared they would be promoting home births.

One Trowbridge midwife, who did not want to be named, said this would be a disaster for west Wiltshire patients who could end up having babies on the side of the road if they were forced to travel all the way to Chippenham.

She added many mothers did not want to have their babies at home in case of complications and needed the community hospital.

She said she and her colleagues were furious. "We work really hard here and have 400 deliveries a year as well as receiving between 350 and 400 women back from Bath," she told the Wiltshire Times.

"We run three clinics a day as well as a post-natal clinic and they are always busy.

"People in west Wiltshire don't want to go to Chippenham. To go all the way there would be cutting it fine for some women.

"Mothers who have other children can give birth very quickly. They could end up having babies on the side of the road." She had this message for Carol Clarke: "You may not care if you have to close community units but we care Ms Clarke and so do the women we care for. We will fight you all the way. Brace yourself. We're trying to drum up as much support as we can for the hospital. We will lie on the ground in front of any bulldozer."

Tracey Butt, of Bratton, had three of her four children in Trowbridge Hospital, including her youngest, Caitlin, who was born in July.

Mrs Butt said the news was a real shame for women across the district.

She said: "The hospital has a lovely atmosphere and the staff are fantastic. I couldn't fault the treatment I received there.

"It was such a convenient place for me. With my third I was warned I'd have to move quickly and Trowbridge was ideal.

I thoroughly enjoyed having my children there. I wasn't so impressed with Bath and came back to Trowbridge as soon as I could after the birth. "It's going to be a massive blow to Westbury mums too. They have lost antenatal classes at Westbury Hospital and now will lose Trowbridge as well."