By Marian Henbest BBC News, Hampshire

Mr Foster takes part in protests with his "Haslar saved my life" badge

When Bill Foster went into hospital with suspected appendicitis he was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

His surgeon was a colonel working at the military-owned Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire.

"If it wasn't for the vigilance of this particular army colonel, I could have died," Mr Foster said.

"He was a very efficient man - I owe a great deal to him."

Mr Foster is one of thousands of civilian patients who have been treated alongside service personnel at Haslar, the UK's last remaining military hospital.

We will be the only major country in the world that doesn't have a dedicated military hospital Cllr Peter Edgar, Save Haslar Task Force

But in December 1998, the government announced plans to close it.

Despite eight years of protests, led by the Save Haslar Task Force, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will withdraw from the site in March before its complete closure in 2009.

The decision to shut all the MoD's military hospitals was made because it was thought they did not give medical staff enough opportunities to develop their skills.

Instead, special units were set up across the country to train staff within NHS hospitals.

A �45m modernisation programme was invested in facilities at Haslar

When Haslar closes, military casualties will be treated on these wards.

But Dr Peter Golding, consultant gastroenterologist at Royal Hospital Haslar, said: "There's a lot happening by stealth rather than logical discussion."

He agrees troops in need of acute medical care should be sent to the NHS-run units, but believes Haslar could treat those with less serious injuries - helping to clear the backlog of injured staff unable to return to the frontline, because of NHS waiting lists.

Last month Tony Blair announced the opening of a new MoD-managed ward at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital, the new home for The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.

But the South East Regional Assembly (SERA) has called for the closure of Haslar to be reviewed.

It said: "There is no good reason to establish the headquarters in Birmingham at very high cost, when Royal Hospital Haslar already exists, has been modernised, and has all supporting staff and patient facilities needed.

"With no home to call their own and armed forces medical staff scattered amongst NHS hospitals throughout the country, morale has collapsed."

Save Haslar Task Force proposals for the site Set up a rehabilitation centre for troops Keep elective and day surgery on site Establish a care centre for the elderly Use the site as a health and community base Retain Haslar for use in case of a terrorist or germ warfare attack

Councillor Peter Edgar, spokesman for the Save Haslar Task Force, has never given up the fight to keep the hospital site in use.

He said: "At present Haslar Hospital is doing more operations than at any time in its 253 years and treating patients from across the south and even further afield."

Mr Edgar is producing a document suggesting the way forward once the MoD has withdrawn from the hospital.