A hospital consultant has warned the Government risks electoral defeat if plans to close accident and emergency departments are allowed to go ahead.

Dr Neeraj Patil, a consultant in Worthing Hospital's casualty department, which may face closure under cost-cutting plans by health officials, is also a Labour councillor in Lambeth, London.

He wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, three weeks ago to warn him of the unpopularity of cuts to hospital services.

Dr Patil wrote: "Having worked in A&E as a doctor for 12 years, and being a member of the Labour Party, I want to emphasise that A&E departments are more sacred than a church to the British population."

Campaigners fear the A&E department at either Worthing Hospital or St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, or both, will be closed and cases transferred to Brighton or Portsmouth.

The South East Coast Strategic Health Authority estimates that about 80 per cent of patients seen at A&E departments had minor conditions which could be handled by GPs or other health professionals in emergency treatment centres.

But Dr Patil told Mr Brown: "Unfortunately, the majority of the British public see the closures as saving money rather than saving lives."

He said the Labour Party's electoral lead over the Conservatives could be wiped out if 29 A&E departments around the country were closed.

Peter Bottomley, MP for Worthing West and a member of the Keep Worthing and Southlands Hospitals campaign (Kwash), backed Dr Patil's stance.

He said: "I congratulate the consultant for putting the case in a straightforward way. The Government has mishandled these issues ... I hope Gordon Brown will respond on matters of medicine, not just for party advantage."

The Conservative MP said he hoped staff at Worthing Hospital would be allowed to "run services in the best way possible in the interests of Worthing and district".

About 1,700 people have signed an open letter to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt protesting against possible cuts to NHS services.

The Argus drafted the letter to raise concerns about the impact the loss of vital departments would have on hospitals across Sussex.

It warns that lives will be put at risk if people have to travel further for accident and emergency or maternity treatment.

The letter also raises the issues of staff being made redundant and treatments being delayed as managers try to claw back millions of pounds of debt.

Sign the letter online, click here