Lacock residents are furious at plans to close their village GP surgery, leaving vulnerable elderly patients having to travel to Melksham to see a doctor.

At a public meeting in the village hall last week more than 80 villagers expressed their anger and concern when representatives from the Spa Medical Centre and the West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust presented the plans.

"The whole village is fuming," said Linda Gayney, 51, from Corsham Road. "This makes me really angry. I am sure there is somewhere in the village they could hold it. They say they haven't made a decision yet but it seems that way."

The surgery is held currently in

Cantax House, owned by the National Trust. Doctors at Spa Medical Centre in Melksham want to close the Cantax Surgery in Lacock from April next year, forcing the 305 registered patients to make the two-bus journey to Melksham instead.

The practice said the building housing the Lacock surgery was outdated and unfit for its purpose in the modern healthcare environment, and did not comply with Disability Discrimination legislation that comes into force in April 2004.

The consulting room requires

patients to walk up a path that can be slippery and then up a staircase.

But many residents are adamant the disadvantages of the Cantax surgery are outweighed by the convenience of having a local facility.

And they fear people without access to a car will find it difficult to reach the new surgery.

Derek Fothergill, from Lacock, said residents unanimously supported the retention of the surgery.

"The doctors made the case that they would provide a better service at the new surgery. The brightly coloured rainbow of better services is a very inconvenient distance from here.

"They say it would be an improvement, but how can that be the case when they are taking it away and making it hard to get at?"

Lacock Parish Council chairman Chris Doel said many people were confused that the surgery could spend money on a new facility but couldn't find the money to upgrade the Lacock premises.

"They said they would look at the possibility of keeping it open but I fear it is a done deal," he said.

"My major concern is the transport. If you haven't got a car and take the bus you have to change at least once,

because the new surgery is on the outskirts of Melksham.

"People are very upset over this. There are quite a lot of elderly people in the village and some of them do not drive and rely on public transport."

Leo Stevens, 69, chairman of the

Lacock Tenants' Association, said the surgery had been running for his entire lifetime, and his father's.

He said: "The hall was crammed and the feeling was that everyone wanted it to stay," he said. "But it seemed as though it was a foregone conclusion."

Dorothy Vowles, 64, from Bewley Crescent, was angry money could not be found to create a village consulting room when the National Trust was prepared to spend money on an education room.

"They make all this money from the village," she said. "I think the doctors are using the state of the building as an excuse."

Mrs Gayney even offered the use of her own house for a consulting room.

She said: "I am sure there is somewhere in the village they could do it. What about the National Trust offices?

"I don't drive and I have two children. What would it be like travelling by bus with a child that wasn't well?"

Dr Rob Matthews of the Spa Medical Centre said: "In Melksham we can offer an on-site pharmacy open from 9am to 6.30pm, access to our nursing and social care staff daily and appointments throughout the day with the doctor of your choice.

"The branch surgery in Lacock offers only a limited dispensary service for four half-days a week, and a short doctors' consulting session on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays with no choice of doctor.

"Access to the surgery requires negotiating a muddy, uneven and poorly-lit footpath of 40 metres and then the necessity of climbing a flight of stairs."

The practice reports that in the first six months of this year an average of 19 patients a week were seen at Lacock.