A weekly newspaper has launched a petition calling on the government to commit to building a new hospital for its patch.

The Basingstoke Gazette launched its Build Our Hospital campaign in February last year with the backing of political leaders from across the town.

It was originally promised a new hospital by the then Tory governent in 2020, but since then the project has faced delays and setbacks and is now in limbo while a review takes place, the outcome of which will be published this year.

The Gazette is now calling on readers to petition health secretary Wes Streeting, calling on him to make a firm commitment to the project.

Head of news Emily Roberts said:  “Basingstoke has been promised a new hospital for years but building work has still not started. Funds haven’t even been allocated for the project and there is no firm commitment that it will be built. Residents are fed up with delays and the project continuously being stalled.

“The team behind the plans to build a new hospital in Basingstoke has laid bare the difficulties our local NHS is facing working in old and crumbling buildings, including operations cancelled at short notice, increasing waiting lists, national standards not being met, and an impact on the quality of care for patients.

“As the town’s local paper, the team at the Basingstoke Gazette is championing this important matter by taking action on an issue we know people who live here feel very strongly about. We believe that our hardworking hospital staff and residents deserve better.

“A new hospital for Basingstoke is long overdue and is desperately needed. It’s time the government made a firm commitment to honour those promises to our town and build our hospital.

“By launching a petition we’re giving the people of Basingstoke the chance to have their collective voice heard loud and clear by the government to prioritise a new hospital for Basingstoke. The Labour government has admitted that the New Hospital Programme (NHP) it inherited from the Conservative government is ‘unrealistic and unaffordable’, with funding due to run out in March this year.

“There is a real risk that some hospitals in the NHP may never be built, or see projects scaled back. We don’t want Basingstoke to become one of them.”