VOTES have been flooding into our mini referendum on hospital services proposals.

We launched it last month when it became clear a public vote would not be staged.

And so far, the number of people saying "no", they don't want to see services moved to Halifax, are far outnumbering the people saying "yes".

We've been asking you two questions by telephone and online - see our panel that's printed here.

These are exactly the same questions that Kirklees Council considered asking in a full referendum.

Health chiefs are set to decide on March 22 whether to press ahead with controversial plans that include moving services from Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to Calderdale Royal Hospital. One of the most contentious parts of the plan is to scale down Huddersfield's maternity services to a midwife-led unit.

So far, on both questions, 98% of readers have voted "no" and 2% have voted "yes" when voting by telephone.

Online, for both questions 9% have voted "yes" and 91% have voted "no".

Numbers have been rounded up and down to complete percentages.

Examiner Editor Roy Wright says: "Hundreds of readers have rung in or cast votes on our website and so far, it's clear the majority oppose the plans. If you haven't yet had your say, there's still time.

"The Examiner can see benefits in moving some services to a central centre with more equipment and expertise, but we're against baby unit plans.

"We'll be formally making the results of our poll known to the decision makers."