Midwives and Copeland's MP Jamie Reed will be continuing tomorrow (Saturday) to campaign about the future of local health care.

They will be manning stalls at Whitehaven's Market Place to talk to the public about the fight to retain services, including 24-hour consultant-led maternity care.

Mr Reed will also be joined area's MEP, Theresa Griffin, from 1-3.30pm, while representatives from the North Cumbria branch of the Royal College of Midwives will be in the market place from 10am-1pm.

Mr Reed said: "We will be making clear that we continue to press those members of Government who worked on the ‘Leave’ campaign, to explain where our extra £350 million per week for the NHS can be found.

"With the West Cumbrian community united behind the campaign to protect our vital local services, we can and must ensure that our voice is heard unequivocally during the current ‘Success Regime’ consultation process.''

And Mr Reed called for the public's help in voicing their concerns about proposals to remove 24-hour consultant led maternity, A&E, paediatric and stroke services from the West Cumberland Hospital.

He said: "It is clear to me that the consultation process has been exposed as an expensive sham, but that we must engage with it, in addition to lobbying Government who will ultimately make the decision, to ensure that our views are recorded as part of this process.''

Mr Reed said the Prime Minister, Theresa May, had responded to his letter calling upon her to intervene to ensure the retention of 24-hour consultant led services at the West Cumberland Hospital.

She had written “…the Success Regime considers a general consensus exists amongst clinicians that a consultant-led maternity unit is unsustainable in Whitehaven”.

Mr Reed said: "In indicating her support for this proposal, the Prime Minister has undermined the consultation process, and tragically, has exposed it to be nothing more than a Government-imposed cost cutting exercise.''