The Patient Participation Group (PPG) wants a new doctor to take the surgery on following Dr Sandhu's retirement on March 31.

But Dr Palmer has suggested it could be run as a branch surgery of another practice with the conditions that it is open five days a week, current staff are employed there and it remained open for three years.

The campaign group says Dr Palmer's compromise not only weakens the patients' fight with the PCT, but it means whichever practice runs the surgery will have the power to close it down after three years if
things are not working out.

PPG secretary Wayne Kirkham said: "We feel the PCT will latch on to this idea and chuck everything else out. We want them to seriously consider keeping this practice open the way we want it. We know of doctors that would take this practice on.

"If another practice runs it they could turn around after the three years and say this isn't working and close it down and then we are fighting all over again. They wouldn't be fully committed to it either.

"If you start throwing in other ideas it takes the focus off the main goal and loses the support for it."

The PCT has opened a public consultation with the patients and held two meetings earlier this month.

In a letter published on page six of this week's Advertiser, Dr Palmer said: "We need to head off the PCT from steaming ahead with option 1,
which really has virtually no local support.

"I'm still consulting on whether to put this forward or not: if readers have email access, I'd be grateful if they could visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/Kimberley to give their comments."

The PPG will next meet on March 15 at the medical centre at 6.30pm.