A DOCTORS surgery which shut suddenly over Christmas must be replaced in the "long term", a meeting heard.

Springvale Surgery in Kings Worthy is set for urgent repairs after fire and electrical safety problems led to doctors shutting its doors without warning over three weeks ago.

Civic chiefs could not say when it would reopen, adding that the ageing building was "not suitable for long-term provision."

Locals gathered on Tuesday to protest the closure, which forces residents without cars to travel for more than an hour to the nearest surgery.

Winchester City Council met doctors, NHS bosses and city MP Steve Brine on Wednesday and sent in surveyors to evaluate the work needed to reopen the practice, which serves 2,000 patients.

Steve Tilbury, the council's corporate director, told last night’s meeting: "I cannot offer a timescale [for reopening] because we need our surveying time to go in and have a look at the works which need doing as a matter of urgency.

"There are other issues with the premises ... which probably mean they are not suitable for long-term provision."

Repairs will keep the surgery open for another three years, he told the Hampshire Chronicle, while health chiefs look for a new location.

Cllr Jane Rutter said the surgery required work at a much earlier stage.

She said: "We have been very concerned for some time in the lack of investment in this vital local facility. If they could just improve the surgery they could make it a longer term service."

Friarsgate GP Practice rents the building from the city council but was "not initially aware" that it was responsible for repairs, health chief Cllr Jan Warwick said.

Responding to a written question from Cllr Anne Weir before the meeting, she said: "The city council has been in discussion with the practice about how this situation could be resolved for some weeks and was under the impression that the dialogue was continuing. We were not notified that the practice intended to stop using the premises."

She told the meeting: "The important thing is to reassure the public, particularly the elderly of Kings Worthy, that this practice is not closing permanently but has just closed short-term for repairs."

After the meeting, Mr Tilbury said the building's "age and location" made it unsuitable long-term. "It's certainly come to a point where the requirements of a high-quality primary care facility are different these days," he added.

He said doctors gave the council enough warning about the need for repairs but declined further comment when asked whether more could have been done to prevent the closure.