WORCESTER'S MP has come under fire for suggesting some operations be moved from the city's hospital to Redditch - with one political rival describing it as "something from Monty Python".

Councillor Richard Udall, who chairs the Labour group at the county council, has waded into the row over last week's shock maternity ward closure by urging Robin Walker to "fight" for the royal.

Mr Walker has hit back by telling your Worcester News he believes the whole NHS debate is "too territorial", saying his number one priority is people being safe.

Last week Redditch's Alexandra Hospital shut its maternity ward and is asking patients to visit the royal instead.

The move, which will be reviewed in February, comes after health chiefs said the Alex's maternity service could not be delivered safely due to a shortage of expert staff.

In the wake of the closure Mr Walker said some elective hospital work, like pre-booked operations could be switched to Redditch, insisting that he was concerned about the royal already being "full".

Councillor Udall said: "You really would struggle to make it up, it is almost like something from Monty Python.

"Our Conservative MPs want pregnant mothers from Redditch to give birth in Worcester and want residents from Worcester to have their operations in Redditch."

"Our elected member of parliament needs to get off his knees and start to fight for our hospital.

"He needs to protect it from the trust who are simply unable to manage the county hospitals and seek the intervention of the Secretary of State to reverse the decision."

He also said he was concerned about public transport, adding: "Those of us who visit our local hospital will already know it is struggling to cope with increasing demand for its services.

"We now face the reality of even more expectant mothers being bussed into the city from Redditch and Bromsgrove to give birth.

"Those who run our hospitals in Worcestershire need to realise that the Worcester's hospital was built for a city not a county, it's not equipped and is not capable of taking on the extra patients."

But Mr Walker said: "We have to recognise politicians are not the experts here, my key concern and first priority is patient safety.

"Nobody is saying they want this maternity unit to close, politically we've got to ensure clinical services are safe and delivered in a positive manner.

"It's a shame Richard wants to politicise this - if everyone accepts the royal is close to capacity then doing what we can to relieve that pressure has to be the right approach."

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has called the closure "essential", pointing to a lack of expert neo-natal staff who deliver vital care to newborns.

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid is meeting Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt next Wednesday for talks over it.