A JOINT letter from a cross-party coalition of leaders in Oxfordshire has been publicly emailed calling the downgrade of maternity services at Banbury's Horton General Hospital "wrong".

Five politicians have formed a united front against the decision by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to temporarily pull obstetric care from the hospital, making it a midwife-led unit for low-risk births only.

The decision was made due to staffing issues, with two out of nine posts due to be filled by October.

Kieron Mallon and Steve Kilsby, the Conservative and Labour group leaders for Banbury Town Council, produced the letter alongside 2015 Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate John Howson, Oxfordshire County Council Green party leader David Williams and Dickie Bird, the UKIP chairman for Oxfordshire.

It reads: "As we stood together the last time the services were under threat 10 years ago, so we are today, united in opposition to the decision taken.

"We have major concerns about the way the trust has communicated their plans and the recruitment process itself.

"Downgrading the unit to a midwife-only service, leading to women in labour having to travel to the John Radcliffe consultant-led unit an hour’s drive away, will put the lives of both mothers and babies at risk.

"We can’t understand why the trust has not implemented locum support or temporary cover until recruitment is successful."

Plans approved on Wednesday will mean women in North and West Oxfordshire with high-risk pregnancies will be sent to the John Radcliffe Hospital to give birth.

About 17,000 people have signed a petition against the move, with campaigners, expectant mothers and Banbury MP Victoria Prentis attending demonstrations.

Local mother Deslie Ayers attended the meeting at the John Radcliffe Hospital on Wednesday with her three-year-old son Archie.

She said: "I think it had already been decided before we got there that they obviously think more of the JR than they do of the Horton.

"We are putting the women of Banbury and surrounding areas at risk."

Following the decision Dr Bruno Holthof, chief executive of OUH, said the trust was "extremely disappointed" to be in the position it was in.

He added: "We would prefer to be maintaining the obstetric service at the Horton and will keep on with our recruitment drives.

"However, we clearly cannot run a service without doctors to provide it. We will continue with our ambition to reinstate the obstetric service at the Horton as well as the special care baby unit."