THE OWNER of Marlborough’s only independent chemists has praised the support shown by MPs in Westminster against cutting local pharmacies.

Tim Jephson, owner of Kennet Pharmacy in George Lane, has been part of the campaign to save local chemists from being closed as part of the Department of Health’s plan to axe 3,000 pharmacies this year and cut £2.63 billion from the budget by October.

Mr Jephson's brother and business partner Nick Jephson attended a recent speed briefing session in London where Devizes MP Claire Perry showed her support for the campaign.

He said: “They delivered the petition to Number 10 Downing Street with 1.8 million signatures. This is the largest petition put towards the Government relating to health care, the petition will now go into a closed session and we will get a result in four weeks.

“It seemed to go very well with MPs from across the board in attendance.

"One of the main points about this petition is to highlight that the patient’s safety is the most important aspect. It was a great success. It is great that the MPs are of the opinion that it is an important matter that does need to be looked at.

“Allister Burt has essentially said that they don’t know where the axe is going to fall and that is the whole point. Nick went up and chatted to the MPs, he is the chairman of the Local Pharmaceutical Committee for the area so as well as running the pharmacy with me he covers the whole area,

Nick Jephson said: “Community pharmacy teams are a trusted and very accessible part of primary care. We are the first port of call for healthcare for many people and our regular patients and the wider community really rely on us.

“We provide much more than a great value dispensing service- we give people information, advice and interventions.

"Many of the services offered, such as home delivery, are a real help to come of our most vulnerable patients- we’re very worried about what would happen if those services were lost.”