Martin Linton's outrageous and absurd comments following Health Secretary Alan Johnson's decision to close the Bolingbroke Hospital cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged.

According to Mr Linton, the council's resistance to the closure of this much-needed hospital was "forcing" patients to continue being treated in a sub-standard building.

While we fully accept that there are parts of the building that need refurbishment, unlike Battersea's soon-to-be ex-MP, we do not swallow the spin that this alone justifies the closure of the entire hospital.

Indeed, rather than meekly supporting the closure, Mr Linton should instead have been devoting his energies to arguing the case for more investment at the Bolingbroke.

And perhaps the local MP should have questioned more fully - as we did - what happened to the £2million that was spent on refurbishing the hospital in 2004. This is a considerable sum of money, yet less than a year later, all in-patient services were removed - and within a year of that catastrophe, the closure plans were hatched.

If the hospital is in such a bad state just three years later, Mr Linton, what happened to that £2million? Perhaps you should explain why that money was apparently wasted on your watch and why you haven't ever said a word about this now seemingly colossal waste of taxpayers' money.

COUNCILLOR IAN HART

Chairman, health overview committee