Pressure is mounting on health secretary Jeremy Hunt to visit west Cumbria as fears for maternity services grow.

The Secretary of State was due to meet campaigners in London last week, but cancelled with less than 24 hours notice. Instead junior minister Ben Gummer hosted the meeting, during which he promised to visit the area in the near future.

But Copeland MP Jamie Reed, who set up the meeting, is ramping up pressure on the Secretary of State to join him.

Having fiercely criticised Mr Hunt for rejecting his invitation to visit west Cumbria, and again for calling off last week's meeting, Mr Reed has now tabled an official question in the House of Commons asking if he will visit the area before November this year.

He has also asked further questions about the ongoing maternity review after a leaked email revealed that bosses are considering moving all births from the West Cumberland Hospital to Carlisle.

The email is between staff at North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, which, runs the Whitehaven and Carlisle hospitals. It details options discussed at a maternity summit on June 17, including full or partial consolidation of births at the Cumberland Infirmary.

The news has been met with anger across the community.

Mr Reed said west Cumbria would not accept anything less than consultant-led maternity, and is now calling for an "immediate, clear and unequivocal commitment" to retaining that.

The questions tabled by Mr Reed ask what evidence is being taken into account to decide whether consultant-led and midwife-led services should be withdrawn from Whitehaven, along with how many births there have been at the hospital in the past six years.

The Success Regime - the Government appointed body leading the review - insists it is still considering all options.

But Mr Reed said that is not enough. “Consultant-led maternity services are what West Cumbrian women and their families need, want and deserve. Without a clear commitment to a fully functioning consultant-led maternity service, it will be impossible to support the Success Regime."