Devastated campaigners heard late last night that there will be no judicial review into keeping women and children's services at Maidstone Hospital.

Despite a massive fundraising push in the last two weeks, supported by hundreds of local people, it has now emerged that specialist legal opinion has recommended not lodging the review.

This comes despite Kent County Council’s legal chiefs reporting that Health Secretary Andrew Lansley could have a case to answer on his decision to move maternity services and the children’s ward from Maidstone Hospital to the new Pembury hospital.

KCC had commissioned specialist counsel to consider whether it should push ahead with the review, which would cost at least £30,000 or more had the challenge been lost. Councillors were told the chance of success was less than 50 per cent.

Council leader Cllr Paul Carter (Con) and Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant (Con) attended a meeting with Mr Lansley late on Tuesday before confirming the review had been scrapped.

Mrs Grant said making a legal case that Mr Lansley's decision was unreasonable was a "high hurdle to clear" and added that the potential cost to the taxpayer of £100,000 was "a highly undesirable outcome in the current financial climate".

Mrs Grant said: “I remain stalwartly opposed, however, to the reconfiguration of services at Maidstone and I am critical of the manner in which the Strategic Health Authority chose to present its report to Andrew Lansley. I am on record warning of a kangaroo court and that is precisely what has happened.

"On behalf of the thousands of people who deserve and need safe local facilities I will continue to work with our local GPs as they emerge into a commissioning force in the next two years. I hope that when that time comes they will make the case and take the necessary steps to reinstate a full service for women and children at Maidstone Hospital.”

But the chairman of campaign group MASH (Maidstone Action for Services in Hospital), of which Mrs Grant was a member, said: "We are devastated our big chance to overturn the Secretary of State’s perverse and appalling decision for Maidstone area’s 250,000 population has gone.

“We may not now beat him on legal grounds – but morally he should be ashamed. He set the key tests - GP support, patient choice, clinical safety and public involvement - and then made for Maidstone a decision failing on every one.

“Maternity services across Kent are in turmoil just now. We will still campaigning hard for the NHS to see sense and preserve these core services in Maidstone Hospital and not expose our women and children to risks clearly outlined in a new international survey for journeys beyond 20 minutes.”

Maidstone GP and the former chairman of Maidstone BMA, Dr Paul Hobday, said: “If this injustice is an example of how future patient services are planned I fear for the NHS if Lansley remains in charge and his revolution goes ahead unchecked.

"This Maidstone policy was decided, then managers went scurrying round to find some evidence to back it. It was not rational or fair and has hit the poorer communities of Maidstone to the benefit of wealthier Tunbridge Wells residents.”

He added: “Now we will see added to services that have already disappeared from Maidstone: paediatrics, A&E department and others. Patients need to be warned that if further decisions are handled like this the health service locally or nationally won’t be recognisable in five years’ time.”

A Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust spokesman said: “The changes will maintain safe, high standards of care for women and children throughout west Kent.

“Much of the everyday routine care that takes place at Maidstone Hospital for women and children will continue there in the future, with the exception of more complex inpatient care.

“Having centres of expertise gives more patients an opportunity to receive consistently high standards of care from highly skilled consultant-led teams who specialise in women and children’s care.

“Locally, Maidstone Hospital is here to stay and is growing, not going.”