DENBY DALE Parish Council has hit out angrily against the proposed moves tabled for Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Council chairman Tony Barlow has condemned the "risk and dangers" of the proposed changes.

He said: "I wish to express the opposition of the council to many of the proposals in the consultation document.

"We are a rural area, some 10 miles from Huddersfield and a 40 minute journey from Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

"Many of our constituents and councillors have the strongest personal recollections of getting pregnant wives and daughters, who may be in labour, to the maternity unit to complete a birth safely for mother and child.

"This is an emotional and practical issue. Any proposal to move some maternity facilities to Halifax is nothing less than the introduction of an element of risk and danger to a frequent domestic occurrence."

The council made its comments as the consultation period for the proposals entered its final stage.

Health chiefs want Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and the Calderdale Royal Hospital to specialise in different fields.

This means the removal of some key services from Huddersfield to Halifax and vice versa.

Hospital managers want the Calderdale Royal to specialise in inpatient women's services : maternity and gynaecology; which means special care baby facilities will be removed from Huddersfield Royal.

Pregnant women expected to have complicated deliveries would go to Calderdale and a midwife-led unit would open at Huddersfield Royal, where most local women would be expected to deliver their babies.

But opponents have argued it could pose terrible risks to Huddersfield patients.

Clr Barlow said: "Weather in the south Pennines is a factor.

"We still get snow out here in winter making driving hazardous and a consequent risk to mother and child.

"We are interested in the reaction of Halifax people to these proposals. Presumably some of their facilities are to be located elsewhere.

"It is our observation that most people do not want long journeys to their places of treatment. Ease of access is a real requirement as people grow older and more infirm.

"Locally there is a problem with traffic density, particularly at peak times. Public transport is something of a lottery.

"The thought of using public transport to get from Denby Dale to Halifax would be daunting for the young and fit!"