In 1999 22,000 people protested against the proposed closure

At a meeting on Tuesday Portsmouth's primary care trust decided to transfer services from Haslar in Gosport to the nearby War Memorial Hospital.

Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust said it will be too expensive to keep Haslar open after naval funding stops in 2008.

Protesters said they are angry the hospital's facilities will be "wasted".

The controversy over Haslar's future has continued for more than five years.

It seems crazy to us that we have these tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers money...not going to be used Cllr Peter Edgar Save Haslar

In January 1999 22,000 people protested against the proposed closure.

Three months later a petition of 200,000 signatures was handed in to Downing Street.

Councillor Peter Edgar, organiser of the Save Haslar campaign, admitted the decision was "a devastating blow" but said they would try to get the Department of Health to look at the decision.

"I think there's a good chance that if we can persuade the government to have another look at the reconfiguration of services, within ten years we could have an excellent system of community hospital care in the area," he said.

"It seems crazy to us that we have these tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers money invested in Haslar and it's not going to be used."

A so-called "super-hospital" is being built in Portsmouth on the site of the Queen Alexandra hospital, which is expected to take most of the strain on health services in the area when it opens in 2008.