A disabled pensioner has blasted council officials for planning to spend millions on a new leisure centre - when the local hospital faces losing 18 of its beds.

Brian Sammons, 69, of Nuneham Square, Abingdon, who needs two walking sticks to help him move around, fears many like him will miss out on treatment at the town's community hospital if plans to close one-third of the beds go-ahead.

He saw red when he heard that the Vale of White Horse District Council was ready to spend nearly £5m of its own money on the£7.8m Phoenix leisure centre to be built on the Abingdon Science Park.

While acknowledging the council had no responsibility for maintaining health services, the arthritis sufferer said: "They should be there for the community and what the community needs more than anything is its hospital.

"Surely they could spend some of that money on helping protect the hospital. We've already got a leisure centre here, what people need is a hospital. It all seems wrong to me." Mr Sammons, who has lived on his own since his wife died two and a half years ago, added he was due to go into Abingdon Community Hospital soon for a hip operation.

He is worried that less beds will mean patients like him being left high and dry following operations. Like many others, he also fears a reduction in the number of beds in Abingdon may also be a prelude to the eventual closure of the hospital."I will not be able to drive for three months after the operation and yet I need to go for physiotherapy.

"I am going to need some help just to be able to get about. I can't walk very far at all," Mr Sammons said. "I need the care the hospital can provide after operations."

The bed closures have been suggested by Oxfordshire health chiefs to save £1.6m a year. The final decisionover whether to implement the cuts will be made by Health Secretary Frank Dobson.

The building of the Phoenix project looks almost certain to be given the final go-ahead by councillors after the National Lottery Sports Fund agreed to contribute £1.95m towards the scheme.Referring to the fact that the Vale was not responsible for hospital services, Mr Sammons insisted: "I am very sorry but if it is a community hospital and they have got millions of pounds to spend on a new leisure centre, they should be helping the community by contributing money to the hospital instead."

Karen White, the Vale's Chief Leisure Services Officer, was unavailable for comment.

Story date: Monday 15 February

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