Bradford campaigners are urging local businesses to help in their battle to bring a 24-hour chemist to the city.

Michael McGann, of Clayton, and fellow supporters are pinning their hopes on pharmacies and supermarkets after talks with Bradford Health Authority failed to offer solutions.

The campaign was launched after Mr McGann's 89-year-old mother needed an urgent prescription on a Sunday evening at 7pm, but the family had to travel to Leeds to find an open chemist.

The out-of-hours emergency service Healthcall provides chemists for urgent cases, but last year it only received eight requests for help from the district.

Mr McGann said: "People are still spending hours searching for a chemist at night, even going to police stations for help. At the meeting with Bradford Health Authority, we were even told people could get a taxi to pick up prescriptions in Leeds.

"The health authority is trying to patch up something that isn't working. We're being treated like second-class citizens in Bradford and for anybody to suggest we just travel to Leeds is a disgrace."

The group, which has collected more than 2,000 signatures for a 24-hour chemist, have proposed various options from a 'hole in the wall' system to a night pharmacy at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

But John Hearnshaw, senior planning manager at Bradford Health Authority, said it would cost almost £250,000 to set up a 24-hour chemist compared to Healthcall running costs of £15,000 per year.

He said: "We do not feel that spending a quarter of a million pounds is necessarily a good use of public funds. We don't have enough 24-hour pharmacies but I'm not sure it should be the NHS that pays for them.

"A 24-hour supermarket could come to some arrangement with its pharmacy or people who they sublet to."

Nick Mortimer, deputy superintendent pharmacist at Lloydspharmacy said he was continually looking to improve its service to customers, but said there were no plans for a 24-hour chemist at this stage.