Crawley Hospital's A&E unit closed in August 2004

Crawley Hospital's A&E department closed in August 2004 with the services moving to East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, just under 10 miles away.

Petitioners in Crawley have collected 30,000 signatures calling for a new hospital, with an emergency unit.

The Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust says having all A&E services in Redhill is the best option for critical cases.

The move happened on 29 August last year after months of controversy.

The NHS Trust invested �16.7m in what it described as a "reconfiguration of acute services at East Surrey and Crawley Hospitals".

It is estimated that 30,000 people have signed the petition

Ambulance officials blamed the closure of Crawley Hospital's A&E for a backlog at Redhill's casualty department in September 2004.

Eight months after the closure and campaigners say they have collected 30,000 names on a petition, from people who think Crawley to Redhill is too far for critically-ill patients to travel and that a minor injuries unit is not enough for the town.

The NHS Trust's medical director, Dr Francis Matthey, argued: "The care does not start when they get here [Redhill], it starts when the ambulance crews get to them."

He added: "The accident and emergency department, as it was at Crawley, can now provide, as a walk-in centre, care for more than two-thirds of the patients that used to visit it."

However, calls are growing for a new Crawley hospital with its own A&E unit.

Campaigner Derrick Scopes said the move to East Surrey Hospital had caused "grief and problems" for many people.