Three thousand people have signed a petition to keep a full range of health services in Maidstone.

Two petitions were delivered to Glenn Douglas, chief executive of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, by members of the Lib Dem party.

They call for the full range of emergency surgical services to be kept at Maidstone, instead of transferring to Tunbridge Wells, and a consultant-lead maternity unit to stay at Maidstone, which is due to be replaced with a low-risk birthing unit when women’s and children’s services are concentrated at the new Pembury Hospital.

The petitions were created by Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Maidstone, Peter Carroll, and Maidstone councillor, Fran Wilson.

Mr Carroll said: “The petitions demonstrate just how much local people want Maidstone Hospital to have the full range of services.

“I understand there are clinical and financial arguments behind the plans, but I believe sometimes it is more important to provide services locally, even if this is slightly more costly.”

Meanwhile, Tonbridge and Malling council has backed the view of the trust’s chief executive that he would personally prefer to wait until the new Pembury Hospital is built before moving any emergency surgery from Maidstone.

A notice of motion given by the council to the hospital stated: “We support this view as it would avoid two changes - one to Tunbridge Wells and then another to the new hospital.”