CAMPAIGNERS fighting the closure of the borough's only A&E are defiant after an emergency meeting on the plans.

Redbridge Council decided to push for Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to overturn the decision to close the emergency and maternity wards at King George Hospital in Ilford.

Councillor Andy Walker, who was at the meeting, said: “Our chief executive will write to him and say we don't want the closure to go ahead. The secretary of state will have to take that into account.”

He added that councillors from Romford, which would take some of the admissions from King George Hospital under the ward closure plans, were also at the meeting and he was confident they would also push Mr Lansley to overturn the decision.

A group of primary care trusts agreed to the plans put forward by Health for North East London, after the quango announced that GPs were one of the groups in favour of the plans.

But Cllr Walker said he believed they had been misled about what the plans would mean for patients and is planning to contact them via a campaign group he is part of.

“The consultation was flawed and didn't tell them how many beds and staff would be lost as a consequence,” he added. “I'm confident we can get the majority of GPs in Redbridge to come out against the closures.

“Queen's A&E has been closed on a number of occasions recently and they have been referring cases to the King George. To reduce the capacity is madness.”

Campaigner Wilson Chowdry said the plan to write to the health secretary was a “great starting point,” but more co-ordination with surrounding areas was needed to stop the closures.

“I think we should make sure councils are joining up with other councils like Barking and Dagenham and Waltham Forest,” he said. “Redbridge is at the centre of an area where the population is growing and Barking and Dagenham has no A&E.”

He has organised a protest starting outside the hospital on January 29 and said he was hoping for people from across the borough and surrounding area to join it.

Ilford North MP Lee Scott said he would meet with the health secretary to try and persuade him to overturn the closures after he returns to the country on Friday.

“I will do everything in my power to stop cuts to King George's,” he added. “There will be a knock-on effect for Whipps Cross and other hospitals.”

A Health for North East London spokeswoman said: "Health for north east London welcomes the opportunity for the proposals to be considered by an independent body.

“We understand that there are strong feelings locally about the proposed changes.

"We are dealing with complex clinical issues and it is not unusual for an independent body to get involved in cases like this."