CAMPAIGNERS fighting to prevent a hospital from closure have received the unanimous backing of a council.
Hartlepool Borough Council has agreed to fight any proposal to shut the University Hospital of Hartlepool.
The vote on the motion received applause from a packed public gallery.
Closing the hospital is one of a number of options being considered as part of a wide-ranging NHS review.
Another is to close the hospital and the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, and build a new one between the two communities.
NHS managers have stressed that all ideas are embryonic at this stage and there is no immediate threat to any hospital in the immediate future.
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