NHS England is being urged to step in to stop the removal of consultant-led maternity services from the West Cumberland Hospital .

Two letters have now been sent to Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, about the proposed cuts to health services in Cumbria - one from local health campaigners and another from senior Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb.

Annette Robson, of the We Need West Cumberland Hospital campaign group, sent a letter flagging up the 20,000 signatures they collected on their petition declaring a vote of no confidence in the Success Regime , which is behind the cuts plan.

However she was angry to receive a reply not from Mr Stevens but a “customer services advisor”, who suggested it was not a matter for NHS England - even though the body had to approve the Success Regime’s business case prior to consultation.

Now it has emerged that Mr Lamb, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for health, has also written to Mr Stevens after concerns were flagged up by local campaigner Rebecca Hanson, who is also the party’s candidate in today’s Copeland by-election.

He referred to controversial claims by NHS Northern England’s Maternity Network that women in labour could safely travel up to four hours in labour.

Mr Lamb, who is also MP for North Norfolk, said: “The idea that it is safe for a woman and her baby to travel such distances strikes me as being highly dubious.

"As I understand it, there is substantial national and international evidence of the strong links between distance travelled and poor outcomes including stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

“This was highlighted in evidence recently submitted to the Success Regime by Rebecca Hanson and obstetrician John Eldred, who are opposing the plans to move the consultant-led maternity unit away from West Cumberland.

“As you will agree, women in west Cumbria should be entitled to rapid and equitable access to consultant-led maternity care. This principle would be undermined by plans to downgrade services at the West Cumberland. Alongside the risks associated with childbirth outside of hospital, women in labour will inevitably feel increased anxiety over having to travel such a distance, often away from their families.

"My great fear is that these changes, if they went ahead, would set a dangerous precedent for maternity care across the country.”

Mrs Robson has now written back to NHS England for a second time after being unhappy with the response to her first letter, which said: “As chief executive, Simon Stevens receives an extremely high volume of correspondence and as such it is not always possible for him to respond to everything personally. On this occasion your correspondence was reviewed and it was decided that the Customer Contact Centre was best placed to respond.

“On this occasion as your enquiry falls outside the remit of NHS England, we would be unable to provide you with a specific response.”