Campaigners' anger as Tory minister pledges to bring 24/7 A&E back to Stafford hospital

He made the announcement during a whistle-stop visit to Stafford's Tory Party HQ in Castle Street.

Services through the night were stripped from County Hospital in 2011 due to safety concerns.

But speaking on Saturday Mr Hunt said: "I would only ever agree to something that is clinically safe, however, it is the ambition of a future Conservative Government to bring back 24 hour A&E.

"That is my commitment to the people of Stafford."

He remarked that the hospital was 'turning a corner', the quality of care had improved and he was grateful to the staff.

Mr Hunt said there had been a lot of scaremongering surrounding the future of the hospital, but that it would be safe if the Tories retained power.

He said at the moment it would not be clinically safe to bring back a 24-hour A&E service, adding: "It takes a while. There's a lot of changes to make to ensure the care is clinically safe and you are giving the right support to staff on the frontline.

"We are encouraged by the progress it is making."

Parliamentary candidate for Stafford, Jeremy Lefroy, welcomed the pledge, adding: "I have been pressing for this for a long time and it is a very strong step in the right direction. It is also what the people served by Stafford's hospital deserve."

But Support Stafford Hospital campaigner Julian Porter, who is standing in the Stafford Borough Council elections in Haywood and Hixon, said the pledge had made him angry.

The 48-year-old Support Stafford Group candidate said: "It's absolute rubbish. I'm very angry. If they were serious about it they could have done it before. They had the power to stop it."

Support Stafford Hospital campaigner and National Health Action Party parliamentary candidate for Stafford, Karen Howell added: "This is an outrageous attempt by Jeremy Hunt as an election bribe to the people of Stafford into voting Tory.

"His government moved the services away from Stafford. Now he is claiming they may be restored.

"The people of Stafford have been through enough. It's disgusting that the health secretary is playing politics with them like this."

Kate Godfrey, Labour's Parliamentary Candidate in Stafford, has accused Mr Hunt of making a desperate dash to Stafford to pre-empt release of Labour's plan for restoration of services at County Hospital.

The plan is due to be unveiled today.