BORDON residents deserve a pat on the back after saving the Chase Community Hospital's only ward, local councillors have said.
At Monday's meeting of Whitehill Town Council, councillors were queuing up to praise the resolve of local residents who turned out in their hundreds to public meetings about the hospital.
Dr Helen Walters said that it was down to residents and the Heartbeat campaign that the original plans to close the MacIlwain Ward were thrown out in favour of fresh plans to make the hospital an example for others to follow.
She said: "I think that Bordon and the Heartbeat campaign saved the Chase, and saved it with bells on.
"Everybody, including Alan Milburn, knows that the Chase Hospital exists and will be keeping an eye on it. The Chase has to survive. Politically it has to survive because it is seen as the way forward."
Council chairman Neil Ockenden also added his voice to the praise.
"The people of Bordon deserve a slap on the back," he said.
"The people of this town really amaze me, when our backs are up against the wall they always turn out in numbers and fight for what they want.
"I only wonder what we could achieve if everybody put their minds to it."