HEALTH campaigners in Winchester are preparing a second day of action to protect the NHS from alleged privatisation.

Protest group 38 Degrees is continuing its appeal for General Election candidates to protect health spending.

Its petition, which has collected more than 1,400 local signatures, also opposes the NHS being used in a transatlantic trade deal known as TTIP, which activists warn will take the service out of public hands.

The second day of action starts at 11am on Saturday, April 25, outside Starbucks Coffee in Winchester High Street.

Elizabeth and Joshua Christian, 38 Degrees’ Winchester coordinators, said in a statement: “People of Winchester have had enough of ongoing destruction of the NHS and we demand that their candidates will save the NHS by stopping any privatisation and stopping the TTIP/ISDS [investor-state dispute settlements], which is being done by stealth.”