THE future of Frenchay Hospital was thrust even further into the political domain this week.

Northavon MP Steve Webb took the debate to Westminster on Wednesday branding the potential closure of the hospital "absurd".

Addressing the House of Commons Mr Webb said: "The threat to Frenchay is one of the biggest concerns among local people.

"I am hearing of alarming numbers of cases of people having their treatment cancelled or delayed - sometimes time after time because the existing hospital is over-stretched.

"The idea that local people will be better served in future decades by a smaller hospital strikes many of my constituents as absurd."

On March 16 the bosses of six local health trusts will meet to decide whether Frenchay or Southmead should be home to the one major hospital serving South Gloucestershire and North Bristol.

North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, is expected to announce its preference over the Southmead site.

However the MP revealed projections for the populations of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, showing that the large part of the population growth over the next 15 years would be in South Gloucestershire, especially among pensioners.

The figures, drawn from North Bristol Trust's own website, showed that the overall population rise in South Gloucestershire will be 16 per cent compared to a paltry 6.5 per cent in Bristol.

A 50 per cent increase in pensioners in South Gloucestershire is also expected. Added Mr Webb: "With the BRI remaining as the major hospital for central Bristol, Frenchay should be retained to serve South Gloucestershire. With big rises in the South Gloucestershire population over the coming years, there can be no justification for removing the area's only major hospital."

Health Minister Melanie Johnson responded to the comments by saying that she did not want to interfere with what was essentially a local decision about choice of sites but whichever sites were chosen the service to the people of the area would be better.