Patients at a medical centre are being urged to help save the practice.

Marlowe Park Medical Centre, Strood, will close at the end of March unless an agreement can be reached between the GP who runs the surgery and health bosses.

Dr Sanjeev Kumar Juneja claims he was given only a few days to renew a contract from the funding body, Medway Primary Care Trust, and was unable to seek legal advice over the weekend.

But NHS Kent and Medway said on Friday that the original contract had ended when Dr Juneja and another doctor there dissolved their partnership and a nine-month interim contract was agreed. That came to an end last month.

Health bosses now say the centre will have to close on March 31, although talks are still ongoing in an attempt to resolve the issues. Dr Juneja started a petition after being notified of the trust’s action, which will affect 3,500 patients.

He said: "I didn’t refuse to sign the contract, I just wasn’t given enough time to seek legal advice. I read the contract last Friday morning and I had to sign it by Monday. I’m just a doctor – I don’t understand legal terms."

"The other surgeries are already bursting at the seams, but I am hopeful that we can come to an agreement."

Patient Karen Sime, of Goldsworth Drive, Strood, is organising a protest to stop the closure and said she was "appalled" that patients had not been notified of the plans by the PCT.

She is urging patients to sign their name in opposition to the plans by visiting the surgery or the council’s e-petition website.

A PCT spokesman said: "NHS Medway would like to reassure patients that they will be contacted if a decision is made to move their health service to another surgery."

NHS Kent and Medway' s medical director Dr James Thallon said it had been in contact with Dr Juneja since last spring when he and his partner made the decision to dissolve their partnership and terminate their contract with the PCT.

The PCT attempted to mediate between the pair, but could not save the partnership and instead offered a nine month interim contract to Dr Juneja, which is due to expire on Saturday, March 31.

A further 18 month extension was offered to Dr Juneja, but he did not agree with the terms within the time required and had not signed the contract.

Dr Thallon added the PCT was unable to bring in another GP and retain patients at the surgery as the building is owned by Dr Juneja.