Bitter personal experience of a late-night emergency admission to hospital has prompted a petition to get a Lincolnshire town's A&E facilities improved.

Gainsborough councillor Tom Brown, 64, was rushed to Scunthorpe General Hospital in the middle of the night with chest pains and problems breathing.

He was checked over before being discharged at about 4am. He was wearing just a pair of his trousers, a hospital-issue blanket over his shoulders and paper shoes on his feet.

Now Mr Brown, of Fielding Way, has begun a petition to get 24-hour A&E provision restored to the town, a service which was withdrawn more than 10 years ago.

The John Coupland Hospital has a minor injuries service which sees and treats about 10,000 people a year and is open from 8am to 8pm daily.

Mr Brown said thousands of people in and around Gainsborough have signed the petition since its launch just over a week ago.

He said: "My only way of getting home from Scunthorpe at that time in the morning was to get a taxi, which cost £30, and I was half-dressed as I'd been rushed to hospital at about 2am.

"It really got me thinking that I was probably not the only person this had happened to and that other people from Gainsborough had gone through that process.

"From speaking to people I really think I've lifted the lid off a pressure cooker.

"The town is going to double in size soon and we need better health services."

Dr Martin McShane, director of strategic planning and health outcomes for NHS Lincolnshire said anticipated changes in population and the impact on health care services are continuously monitored.

"Patients with serious conditions and injuries will need to be treated at centres that can support all the equipment and staff required to meet their needs," he said.

"We will consider any petition with proper consideration and care."

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