MP Ian Liddell-Grainger is demanding ‘immediate’ answers from NHS officials over the future of Minehead Medical Centre.

Patients were informed on Tuesday morning (January 23) via a notice on the surgery door that it was closing at midday.

The GP surgery is the only one serving the town’s 12,000 population.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said the closure was apparently linked to the medical centre failing to comply with an official improvement notice served on it some weeks ago.

Patients who were expecting to be seen by centre staff have been advised to dial 111 or seek help at Minehead Hospital’s minor injuries unit.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said the NHS needed to act immediately to appoint temporary medical staff to run the centre.

He said: “It is quite intolerable for a town of this size to be left with no GP.

“It would be a serious enough situation for any community but in this area we have one of the highest age profiles of any district in the country.

“I know the centre has been operating under considerable pressure in the past and that this is evidently a response to an ongoing and uncorrected problem.

“But the fact is that 12,000 people plus several thousand visitors every weekend need access to medical care if it is required.

“I am contacting the NHS about this appalling state of affairs and I want immediate clarification of what is happening.

“In the meantime I would advise everybody to check the NHS website for updates on the situation.”