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Furious families took to the streets despite pouring rain yesterday as the NHS staff crisis forced their A&E to shut at night.

An estimated 3,000 people took part in the march through the market town of Grantham,Lincolnshire.

Police and the county council’s highways department asked the marchers to go around the town centre - but protesters set off down the busy High Street anyway, waving banners and chanting: "No ifs, no buts, no A&E cuts."

It demonstrates the scale of the anger over the closure of Grantham Hospital’s accident and emergency department between the hours of 6.30pm and 9am for at least the next three months.

The march came just days after David Cameronwas branded an "utter hypocrite" for complaining about the downgrading of his local maternity unit in the NHS staffing crisis.

(Image: Sam Webb)

Horton General Hospital in Banbury temporarily suspended high-risk births for "immediate and real patient safety reasons" due to a shortage of obstetric doctors.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust defended its A&E closure, which it said was taken in response to staff shortages at its other two main hospitals, Lincoln County and Boston Pilgrim.

Kate Collingwood, 69, a retired former telephonist, told Mirror Online about the death of her 91-year-old dementia sufferer mother, who had suffered a fall which caused internal bleeding.

She was taken to Lincoln Hospital - a 45 minute drive on a clear road - and died four days later.

Mrs Collingwood, who attended the march with her husband Tony, said: "I can't say if it contributed to her death, but she definitely wouldn't have suffered as much.

"She would have been treated a lot sooner."

Her mother's care home is just five minutes from Grantham Hospital.

(Image: Sam Webb)

Catherine Clarke, a mum-of-two, is even considering moving away from the town because she fears for the care her sons Joseph, five, and Edward, 21 months, would receive should they become ill or injured out of hours.

Her concerns were echoed by Stephen Taylor, the 38-year-old dad of Harriet, two.

The IT network administrator said: "It will encourage parents to wrap their kids in cotton wool after 6pm, and that's not fair on them."

The town is rapidly expanding, with at least two major housing developments underway, and the hospital serves an estimated 120,000 people.

Grantham MP Nick Boles said: "It's a fundamental management failure (of ULHT) that's led to this decision.

"They need to get a grip and recruit the staff. The hospital has been the single institution that has brought the town together. It is very much loved.

"This town is growing, we are building thousands of houses, we pay our taxes, and we have to have proper services."

Regulator Monitor branded the £2bn NHS deficit the "worst in a generation" last year, with a large chunk of the funds going to agency staff who fill gaps on the wards.

Mirror Online approached Lincolnshire Police and the hospital trust for comment.