PRIME Minister Tony Blair has penned a four page letter to Vale MP Peter Luff in response to concerns over the future of the town's community hospital.

The letter was dated October 10 - five days after the threatened wards at the hospital were given a reprieve by South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and nearly three months after Mr Luff wrote to Mr Blair.

It also follows the delivery of a 30,000 name petition, organised by the Journal, to Downing Street by a contingent led by Evesham mayor Frances Smith.

In the letter Mr Blair said that he is "aware of the strength of feeling in the local area, having received the Evesham Journal's petition and recent correspondence" but goes on to defend policy decisions at county and national level.

He said: "South Worcestershire PCT is investing more resources in community services and will ensure that patients receive the appropriate care at the right time and in the right place.

"The PCT is also developing services aimed at preventing unnecessary admissions to acute and community hospitals, while promoting independence for older people and people with long-term conditions.

"The detailed proposals for Evesham Community Hospital are still in development and the PCT board will be consulting on them but I must assure you that the private finance initiative (PFI) development at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital is not a major factor in the reconfiguration of services in the Worcester area. The review of services has been undertaken in response to a widely accepted need for clinical change."

Mr Luff had a mixed reaction to the letter, describing it as "extraordinary" and "a complete whitewash, economical with the truth".

He said: "To get a four page letter from the prime minister is good, it means that his officials have gone through all the right motions to research the information, and I regard this as one of the reasons we got the result we did. But the letter didn't answer any of the points I made so I'm unhappy with that. And it was dated five days after the PCT reached their decision so I suspect it had been sitting on his desk for a while."