Campaigners will be taking their petition on a tour of Hyndburn as they enter the final straight in their battle to fight the closure of the Accrington Victoria Hospital walk-in centre.

After a successful action day in Accrington town centre added more than 1,700 signatures to their petition in two hours, the campaigners are planning similar events in Great Harwood, Clayton-le-Moors and Rishton over the next four weekends.

Around 16,000 people have signed the petition.

The walk-in centre is due to close at the end of March.

The community have rallied around the campaign, with Accrington Stanley allowing campaigners to collect signatures at two of their recent matches at the Crown Ground against Stevenage and Swindon Town.

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Shops in Accrington town centre and traders in the Market Hall have copies of the petition ready for people to sign and Tesco in Accrington has allowed campaigners to collect signatures in their store.

Russell Taylor, who runs Trickett’s Ices in the Market Hall, says there has been so much support, he has run out of forms.

He said: “Everyone seems to support it [the campaign] and hopefully it’ll make a difference.”

A number of political heavyweights have also thrown their support behind the campaign as it enters its crucial final stages.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP, and Jonathan Ashworth MP, Shadow Health Minister, have joined Hyndburn MP Graham Jones and Alyson Barnes, parliamentary candidate for Rossendale and Darwen, in backing the fight.

The petition will be officially handed over to Mr Ashworth on March 10 who will present it to Parliament.

The campaign is being led by Kimberley Whitehead, the wife of Hyndburn MP Graham Jones who started the petition. She said the remaining weeks of the campaign are crucial.

Kimberley, 37, said: “I think there is always hope and we’re determined to get a good outcome. We’ve got four weekends ahead to make a final push.”

She added that as the proposed closure date draws nearer, she is encouraging people to write to the doctors on the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to let them know of their opposition to the closure.

She added that she had not met anyone who was in favour of the closure.

She said: “I think people won’t know what to do.

“We’ve not been told about the replacement service or where it will be.

“What will the criteria be and how will it work?

“I think people will take risks and perhaps not see someone when they would have otherwise used the walk-in centre.

“With the support we’ve had already, the CCG have to listen.”

Protesters fighting to save Accrington Victoria Hospital walk-in centre

The Observer says...

THE figures for Accrington Victoria walk-in centre speak for themselves.

Around 16,000 people have made it clear that they oppose plans to close this vital local facility.

Figures from 2015 show that around 34,000 people were using the hospital a year - that amounts to nearly 100 people a day.

But this is not just about numbers - it is about people.

To take this much-used local facility away from people is madness.

It has already received five stays of execution but needs to be saved permanently.

Hyndburn often finds itself at the thin end of the wedge when it comes to cuts, and the Observer stands squarely with our readers when we say: Hands off our walk-in centre.