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Five abortion clinics across Birmingham and the Black Country have shut down - leading to fears women will be 'forced to travel further for care'.

The Marie Stopes clinics were closed last month after a re-procurement of services by Sandwell and West Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

The clinics closed include the UK's oldest in Edgbaston, as well as four 'early medical units' in Birmingham and the Black Country.

The smaller units provided medical abortions for women under nine weeks and six days gestation.

Marie Stopes was commissioned to provide abortion services by the CCGs in 2012, but did not re-bid for the contract when services were re-commissioned at the end of 2019.

Instead, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has now been awarded the contract.

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Richard Bentley, Marie Stopes' managing director, said the decision not to re-bid for the contract was down to the 'unsustainable level of funding available'.

And he claimed women in the area would now 'be forced to travel further to access care - including women with more complex needs'.

"Marie Stopes UK was commissioned to provide abortion services by the Walsall; Wolverhampton and Sandwell & West Birmingham CCGs in 2012 and we have supported many thousands of women since then," Mr Bentley said.

"Over recent years, Marie Stopes UK has been on a journey of improving access and the quality of the services we deliver.

"With the re-commissioning of services in the latter part of 2019, we took the difficult decision to not re-bid for the contract, as we were of the opinion that the level of funding being made available was not sustainable.

"Quality is at the heart of our strategy. Our teams provide so much more than just abortion: from consultations and counselling to interpreting and safeguarding.

"We have been open and transparent with commissioners about the real cost of running the services, but despite lengthy discussions, the level of funding has not, in our opinion, been increased to sustainable levels to provide high quality, local services.

"As a responsible provider were unable to bid on the new contract.

"This is incredibly disappointing and means that some women in the area are going to have to travel further to access care, including women with more complex needs

"We remain committed to supporting women with their reproductive choices and will continue to review how we can best support women’s health in the area in the future."

But a spokeswoman for the Clinical Commissioning Groups involved said clinics would be available in all areas, with more 'complex cases' possibly being seen at out-of-area specialist units.

A joint statement from Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG, Walsall CCG and Wolverhampton CCG read: "Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG, Walsall CCG and Wolverhampton CCG undertook a re-procurement in 2019 to seek a provider for their Termination of Pregnancy services.

"The process was carried out in line with NHS procurement legislation and incorporated quality and financial elements with greater weighting being given to the quality elements.

"The provider of the services at the time, Marie Stopes UK, was invited to tender for the new contract alongside other providers of services but declined the opportunity.

"Following a thorough and robust procurement process, the contract was awarded to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) who commenced services on January 1, 2020.

"We are pleased to welcome BPAS as the new provider and are assured of the quality and accessibility of their services, with clinics being available in all the CCG areas.

"Additional surgical capacity has also been added to the service through Walsall Manor Hospital.

"Due to the complexity of some cases, patients may need to be seen in specialist units which are located out of area.

"This is something that also occurred in the previous contract with Marie Stopes and is driven by the clinical needs of the patient."