A mother-of-three has collected almost 33,000 signatures in a campaign to get hospital services returned to her town.

In just under a year Becky O'Gorman has gathered the names calling for Crawley to have a fully-functioning accident and emergency department.

Mrs O'Gorman plans to present the petition to the Department of Health in the next few weeks but says there is still time for people to add their signature.

Once the petition is handed in, the fight will continue not only for A&E services but also for a new hospital to be built at Pease Pottage, near Crawley.

The campaign began in September last year, two weeks after Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust decided to close Crawley's A&E department and send patients to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill instead.

Mrs O'Gorman first became aware of the changes when her youngest son Kieran, then nine months, needed to be rushed to hospital.

She said: "He was not very well at all so I phoned the NHS Direct helpline and they said he was showing some signs of meningitis and we should get him to hospital.

"When the ambulance arrived I was amazed that we had to go on such a long journey to Redhill instead of a few minutes to Crawley.

"It took about 30 minutes and it really added to the pressure."

Mrs O'Gorman, 34, had lost her five-year-old daughter Charlotte in 2002 after the youngster did not survive her third operation to try to correct a heart problem she was born with.

She said: "After losing a child I was naturally pretty concerned about my son and it did not help to go through the extra stress.

"Luckily he was fine but what if he hadn't been?

"I have heart problems myself and would like to think I could get emergency treatment at home."

Mrs O'Gorman lives in Bewbush, Crawley with her husband Mark, 35, a postman and their two other children, Daniella, five, and Gemma, two.

She said: "The petition just took off. People were really keen to sign and felt so strongly about what was happening.

"I thought the changes just did not make any sense. Surely a large town like Crawley should have a full range of services. The East Surrey Hospital just can't cope with the extra pressure this change has created."

Mrs O'Gorman also did some research of her own, timing how long it took to drive from Crawley and Horsham to Redhill.

She said: "I did the Crawley to Redhill route at various times and on different days and the quickest it has been done was 30 minutes. When I tried from Horsham it took an hour.

"That was by car. It will probably be a lot more difficult to get there by bus or train."

Mrs O'Gorman said the fight was going to continue until the people of the town had what they wanted.

The trust insists the changes at A&E are better for patients and mean all expert services are based under one roof instead of split over two sites.

It says millions have been invested into creating other services at Crawley including a walk-in centre for minor injuries and illnesses.

Anyone wanting to sign the petition can call Mrs O'Gorman on 0796 9395770 or email RebeccaEde@aol.com