According to Mr Shapps, the local community has ‘been betrayed over a pledge to build a super hospital in Hatfield.’

Mr Shapps says acute services at the QE11 in Welwyn Garden City are set to be lost, and that maternity, accident and emergency, paediatrics, elderly care and surgery are all about to be reviewed.

The MP is urging people to sign his online petition, which can be found at his site http://www.hospitalsos.com/.

Mr Shapps is also inviting supporters to print out a petition and get friends and neighbours to sign up.

The campagin site has posters, which Mr Shapps is urging people to display in their homes, workplace and cars.

Those signing the online form need to be aware that it is an opt-out system. This means that the box giving permission for Mr Shapps to email other political material to those who sign up is already checked.

You can discuss this in the site's forum.

29 November 2006