Councillors have rejected hospital shake-up plans and voted 5-3 to refer the decision to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Councillors on the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee, which met at Huddersfield Town Hall, slammed plans which would see Huddersfield Royal Infirmary demolished and the hospital replaced with a small ‘urgent care centre.’ Hundreds of jobs would be lost.

The committee, made up of councillors from Kirklees and Calderdale, have asked Mr Hunt to intervene.

Hundreds of protesters from the two main protest groups staged a noisy demonstration outside the town hall.

There wasn’t enough room in the council chamber and the council set up a big screen in the main hall where dozens watched the meeting unfold.

As the decision was announced by committee chairman Clr Liz Smaje at just after 1.30pm, protesters clapped and cheered and struck up a chorus of: “Jeremy Hunt hear us say, HRI is here to stay.”

The committee made its decision on three grounds: It was not satisfied with the adequacy of content of the consultation with the Joint Committee; the amended proposals presented to the Joint Committee were not consistent with the proposals originally consulted on by the CCGs in 2016; and it considers that the proposal would not be in the interests of the people of Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield and hence not in the interests of the health service in the area.