Around 200 campaigners of all ages joined together to form a human chain around a hospital in protest against its potential closure.

Crowds gathered at Portland Hospital on Saturday morning to link hands and show their determination to secure the site permanently as a community hospital.

In August 2018, 16 beds at the hospital were axed with health chiefs quoting staffing shortages as the reason. There have also been discussions over whether the site should become a 'community hub’ for local NHS services.

Campaigners are now urgently trying to save the hospital and bring back its beds, with many islanders claiming that the elderly population would be hit the hardest if it were to close.

A petition titled 'Keep Portland Hospital', led by central campaigners Jo Pearce and Giovanna Lewis, has already received more than 3,000 signatures - with more pouring in each day.

At the Hands around the Hospital rally on Saturday, campaigner Philip Marfleet said: "It's clear that people on Portland feel extremely strongly about keeping the hospital.

"The hospital is vital to the island community. This demonstration is to show that people are coming from all over Portland, Weymouth and Dorchester to show that this is a vital resource for healthcare in the area."

At the protest, residents told of how they or their family members had benefitted from having the hospital on the island.

Julie Matthews, aged 67, and of Spring Gardens, said: "My mother fell over and cut herself. She was on blood thinning medication and so she bled quite profusely - she had to get her friend to drive her down here.

"Had this been closed she would have had to go all the way to Weymouth, and what could have happened doesn't bear thinking about. She is in her 80s."

Closure of Portland Hospital would also put the Fairfield Day Centre, which has recently started using the hospital site, at risk.

People held hands and circled the hospital, singing 'save Portland Hospital, bring back our beds,' after hearing several impassioned speeches from campaigners who rallied the crowds.

Lynne Hubbard, who has worked for the NHS for 30 years, said: "I think people on Portland have done a fantastic job so far in keeping the hospital.

"We've been to a lot of consultations and I think the chief executive has been surprised by the response, I think they thought we would all go away.

"We celebrate today that we have still got our hospital, but we don't trust them and we will keep the pressure up...these community hospitals are ours, and they are not for sale."