ANGRY protesters confronted health bosses this week in a showdown over threatened hospital bed closures.

More than 100 people descended on CDC's Trinity Road offices where Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust were holding a board meeting.

The crowd, many of whom had banners and posters, gathered to voice their angger at proposed cuts at Fairford Hospital.

Leading the protest were Fairford town mayor Chris Roberts and CDC councillors Malcolm Berry and Christine Eatwell, members of the newly formed Fairford Action Group (FAG).

Cllr Eatwell said it was the first show of force for those who were serious about saving the beds.

She said: "It's time to show the PCT we are serious. It's a major issue - a national issue. The PCT has to make savings and community hospitals are an easy target."

Speaking outside the meeting PCT chief executive Richard James admitted beds could still be lost at Fairford in a bid to cut costs.

He said: "We are doing a number of things to cut costs and there is a proposal to lose some beds. At the moment we are talking about 15 at Fairford and 11 at Tetbury."

"I think there is a genuine challenge here. In Fairford we have got a hospital which, sooner or later, will need significant upgrading for inpatient services. The beds are relatively expensive and there are lots of beds available in Cirencester or Cheltenham."

Later on inside the meeting PCT chairman Elizabeth Law answered questions from members of the public who crammed into the council chamber.

Cllr Berry, speaking as spokesman for FAG, asked if it was true that the Strategic Health Authority saw the bed closures as a done deal.

Mr James said this was not the case as decision making is the role of the PCT not the SHA.

He also denied claims that staff at Fairford Hospital had been banned from gathering signatures on a 'save our hospital' petition.

Fairford town councillor Trevor Hing made a plea to Mr James and Mrs Law.

He said: "I understand the financial aspect but what I would say is it should not blur the meaning.

"There is a huge rural area served by Fairford and it has a huge impact on the quality of life.

"We don't have a rural transport system like a lot of urban areas. People will have to go to Cheltenham to see their loved ones and it will make them ill because they can't get there or it takes a whole day. It's not like a big town, we can't just get on a bus."