Campaigners against the closure of an Eastbourne hospital have drawn up a battle plan to try to secure its future.

Eastbourne Liberal Democrats are spearheading the campaign to save All Saints Hospital on the seafront.

Following the recent announcements of the impending closure, Parliamentary hopeful Chris Berry called colleagues together to discuss challenging the decision.

Members plan to collect signatures for petitions and lobby extensively to save the hospital, which cares for mainly elderly patients.

The theme of the campaign is SAS - Save All Saints.

Mr Berry said: "Concentrating all the town's health care facilities at the district general hospital cannot be right.

"All Saints has had its problems in the past but there is a real need for this kind of care in the Meads area.

"I am very concerned that this move is motivated by financial rather than health reasons."

Former Eastbourne mayor Beryl Healy, a key member of the campaign and a former district nurse, said: "People feel comfortable with their local hospitals and it is very important that such local facilities are kept open.

"The move to larger and larger hospitals does not always mean greater efficiency and I worry that elderly people will have to travel farther for their care, as will their visitors."

Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust announced the closure last month.

It denied the move would mean a decline in services and said the ageing Victorian building was no longer suitable to provide medical care.