The maternity unit at King George Hospital will close in 11 days after health bosses unanimously voted in favour of the move.

The board of NHS North East London and the City (NELC) met this afternoon to rubber stamp the decision which has been on the cards since 2009.

The closure of the labour ward and transfer of services to Queens Hospital in Romford had been on hold following a series of damning reports by health watchdog The Care Quality Commission (CQC) into maternity at Queen’s.

A spate of maternal deaths at the hospital prompted calls to ditch the decision to close services at King George, but the CQC’s last report in January gave Queen’s a clean bill of health.

Wendy Matthews, Director of Midwifery at Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) which oversees both hospitals, told today’s meeting that the quality of care at Queen’s was extremely high.

She said: “There is very little risk because we have ironed out risk.

“There have been no maternal deaths at Queen’s for 15 months.”

Under the changes maternity units at Newham, Homerton and Whipps Cross will expand to meet demand in north east London.

Campaigners against the closure say health bosses have underestimated the demand hospitals will face from population growth over the next ten years and say they fear demand will be too high to meet without the King George unit.

Save King George Hospital (SKGH) member Susan Francis confronted board members over the issue at the meeting.

She said: “We are experiencing an influx of people into the country and we are very near to the centre of London.

“If you were a mother or father on the street instead of committee members how confident would you really feel about meeting demand?

“We could have people in the car parks of hospitals giving birth.”

But Helen Brown, Director of Transformational Change for NELC, told Ms Francis: “We are really clear that we have to keep a close eye on demand at all our maternity campuses.

“There may well be more births than we are expecting but I can assure you that we will be keeping a close eye on demand and capacity.”

After the meeting, Alwen Williams, Chief Executive of NELC, said:“We are making changes to maternity services so that all local women get the safe, high-quality service they deserve at all local hospitals.

“We have put care at the heart of these changes and we have only made the decision to move forward with the change to maternity services at King George Hospital once local clinicians and the external experts have confirmed that it is safe to do so.”

NELC says the changes will mean that women with more complex births will be able to deliver their babies more safely as specialist services will be concentrated in fewer centres with more senior doctor cover.

But SKGH campaigners insist the move is misguided.

SKGH campaigner Bob Archer said: “People are furious about this and even though this decision has been taken we will not give up.”

Fellow campaigner Geoff Horsnell added: “This is a very sad day but our fight goes on.”

And SKGH member and Redbridge councillor Harold Moth added: “We feel the community has been let down by health officers.

“It’s obvious that everyone who lives here wants to keep maternity services in the borough.

“This is a dark day for Redbridge.”