BICESTER community hospital campaigner Les Sibley is urging people to sign a petition to help boost its number of signatures to 10,000.

Mr Sibley and fellow Save Our Community Hospital campaigners will be in the town centre tomorrow to add to the 6,000 people who have already signed.

The group wants to get Bicester a hospital with inpatient beds rather than the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) proposal for a primary care centre with hospital facilities, such as X-ray, minor injuries clinic and therapies.

Under that scheme, beds would be “bought” elsewhere in the town from other service providers, such as nursing homes.

Mr Sibley said: “This is the final push. Over the next few weeks we need to get as many people as possible to sign the petition.

“Many people have also taken them away – can they please return them. We are asking people to make a big effort to come down and bring any forms they may have.”

Mr Sibley said campaigners were also gearing up to go door-to-door across the town.

He added: “We are trying to impress upon the PCT there is no point coming forward with the same option as they are going to get the same message.”

SOCH campaigners will be in Sheep Street tomorrow from 9.30am to 11.30am.

Fellow SOCH campaigner John Holmes urged people to add their name to the campaign.

He said: “If we can get everyone to sign it, we can say to the PCT ‘you said you would consult with the people of Bicester, well this is what they say’.

“Cherwell District Council was prepared to build a hospital. Also, the land has been given to them. Everyone involved in this campaign has come on board — the only people opposing it are the PCT.”

He said the population of Bicester was set to explode over the next decade and a hospital with inpatient beds was a necessity.

Another campaigner John Broad said: “If the town was diminishing in size, I could understand, but it’s getting bigger.”

Earlier this year, Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust placed an advert in a specialist magazine asking potential developers to submit plans for the project to redevelop the hospital as a primary care centre.

Cherwell District Council put forward a proposal offering to build a hospital and lease it back to the PCT.

But in July the council’s bid was rejected — and Cherwell has since made representations to the Department of Health and the PCT.

The PCT expects to be in a position to award the contract early next year, with work starting in summer 2010.