Protesters march over A&E proposals for Telford

Hundreds of people have protested over the possible downgrading of an Accident and Emergency unit.

NHS bosses reviewing healthcare in Telford have proposed moving Princess Royal Hospital's A&E to Shrewsbury.

Gill George, chair of Shropshire Defend our NHS, said it could be life-threatening for some patients forced to travel 18 miles to Shrewsbury's A&E.

NHS chiefs say 80% of A&E cases would be seen at new urgent care centres at both sites.

The NHS Future Fit programme bosses believe there should be one A&E to cover Telford and Shrewsbury but say a final decision is a long way off.

However, Ms George said a downgrade would mean one A&E covering an area "19 times the size of Birmingham".

"The idea that you can have one A&E to cover that area is nonsense," she said.

The Future Fit programme was launched in 2014 to review the health system across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and mid-Wales, and is set to finish in spring 2017.

A spokesman for the review said its findings would go before its board later this month and this would then make a recommendation to the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups.

"The NHS Future Fit programme still has a long way to go before a final decision is made. This includes a full public consultation that will run for a minimum of 12 weeks," he said.