THE governors of a special school in west Dorset are warning their pupils ‘might not survive’ if children’s hospital services are moved from the county town.

The Bridport News is backing a campaign to save Kingfisher Children’s ward in Dorset County Hospital after it was revealed it could be moved to the east of the county as part of a review of health services in the area.

Now governors at Mountjoy School in Beaminster have thrown their weight behind the fight to keep services local.

They have written a letter to Dr Forbes Watson, chairman of the Dorset Clinical Care Commissioning Group asking him to reject the proposed changes.

The letter says both Kingfisher and the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) are vitally important to its students.

The letter says “Some of our children need very rapid medical intervention if they have what would normally be considered minor medical issues.

“They would literally be unlikely to survive the journey from Beaminster to Bournemouth on the roads.”