HEALTH secretary Jeremy Hunt will be asked to step in and halt plans to close Poole Hospital’s A&E, maternity and paediatrics departments.

The plans were approved in September despite more than 75,000 people signing a petition against them.

Now Dorset County Council’s health scrutiny committee has voted unanimously to refer the issue to the secretary of state in the hope of having the proposals scrapped.

Royal Bournemouth Hospital is due to become the major emergency ‘hub’ for the east of the county, leaving Poole Hospital for planned and urgent care.

But members of the committee agreed with objectors who fear emergency care is being moved too far away from many parts of Dorset.

Committee chairman Cllr Bill Pipe said: “The main concern is ambulance travel time, particularly from the more remote parts of Dorset, which before now would have used Poole Hospital.

Swanage is a particular concern. It’s a town in a cul-de-sac with one road in and one road out. If you get an accident on the A351, then you’ve got no chance.

“I think the people from Purbeck are not going to benefit from it at all. It’s all a bit of a burden for them.”

The committee’s decision will now go to a joint committee of Dorset councils on December 15.

Bournemouth and Poole will be urged to back the move to refer the issue to Mr Hunt, but Dorset can take the action on its own if not.

Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) launched its clinical services review in 2015 in a bid to deal with a budget shortfall expected to reach £158milion by 2021.

Its plans also involve closing St Leonards Community Hospital and reducing the number of beds at other community hospitals, including Wareham.

Mental health services in the county will also be shaken up.

The plans drew protests at the meeting of the CCG which unanimously backed the changes in September. Campaigners shouted “Save our NHS” outside the venue in Dorchester.

Damien Stone, of Keep Our NHS Public, said at the time: “I think this is going to be a disaster. If you close hospitals, cut beds and make people travel further, it will jeopardise patient care, not improve it.”