A team of doctors is withdrawing from Denholme.

Sessions at the Anne Street surgery provided by doctors from the Wilsden and Culling-worth practice will cease from Saturday, February 1.

But a Thornton practice which also covers Denholme is to double the number of surgeries at Anne Street from four to eight a week.

And a health chief says a new health centre could be built in the village if it continues to expand at its current rate.

Elderly residents registered with the Wilsden practice have expressed concern they will have to travel to Cullingworth or Wilsden for treatment.

And they are worried about getting there. Public transport links are poor, they claim.

Wilsden practice managers made the decision to withdraw because they said providing GP services over three sites was overstretching their staffing resources and was difficult to organise. They have also decided not to take on any new patients from Denholme, although existing patients and any babies they may have will be able to remain on the surgery's list.

Thornton Medical Centre has, in turn, offered to take on any patients who wish to transfer from the Wilsden practice.

A public meeting to discuss the changes will be held in Denholme Mechanics Institute on Tuesday at 7.30pm.

It will be attended by representatives of both practices and Bradford South and West Primary Care Trust.

Denholme Town Mayor Councillor Anne Jay said: "Many older people in the village probably don't want to change doctors.

"There are going to be a lot of irate people who won't appreciate having to catch a bus to get to this service."

Dorothy McNiff, a founder member of Denholme Elders Network, said: "It is bad news and a grave loss for older people in Denholme.

"The problem we have is getting to a surgery because buses only come every half an hour and it is especially difficult waiting for a bus when the weather is like this."

Gideon Seymour, director of primary care and community services with Bradford South and West PCT, said: "The Wilsden practice is finding that operating with three sites is not feasible, and although it has tried very hard it has been very difficult.

"Existing patients registered with the practice will have to go to Cullingworth or Wilsden, although patients will have the option of transferring.

"Residents only have access to basic GP services in the village but because it is growing at a rate of knots we will be exploring the opportunity to provide more services, such as treatment for diabetes.

"If it continues to grow at the current rate, we need to revisit this in 12 months' time to look at the facilities and see if there is a need for a new health centre in the village."