PATIENTS given life saving treatment at the Westbury Stroke Unit have hit out at a decision made by health bosses to shut the unit.

West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust made the closure public after patients were removed from the stroke unit at Westbury Community Hospital on Christmas Eve.

The ward was officially closed on Friday and 17 beds have been transferred for general medical use and the remaining eight will stay empty.

The PCT claims the closure is temporary but will only reopen when a new clinical assistant has been employed.

Two patients fear they may be among the last people in the region to ever secure life saving treatment available at the specialist unit.

George Barrow, 85, of Warminster Road, Westbury, was in hospital for three months last year after a stroke attacked the left side of the brain affecting his balance.

He said: "The unit has done wonders for people like me.

"I had a week in Bath RUH and was shifted from pillar to post but when they found me a bed at Westbury it was fantastic and the staff were all happy and helpful.

"I went to see the specialists just before Christmas but I don't know where I can go now."

Michael Slater, 52, of Warminster, was in the stroke unit for 13 weeks after suffering a stroke paralysing the right side of his body.

He said: "I am very sad it has closed.

"If anyone in my position suffers a stroke now they have to go all the way to Bath. It's unacceptable."

Mr Slater received physiotherapy and speech therapy at the stroke unit and is now able to walk.

The unit opened two years ago and is the only specialist unit in west Wiltshire.

Jenny Clements, chairman of the Westbury Community Hospital League of Friends, said; "I cannot believe the PCT has spent all this money and then closed it. This is beyond belief."

The PCT said in a statement the unit would only be opened again if new staff are found.

West Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison has called for the PCT to do everything in its power to solve the staffing crisis.

Statistics from the National Stroke Association reveal strokes are the third most common cause of death in England and Wales, responsible for 60,000 deaths every year.