A DOCTORS' surgery in one of the most deprived parts of Gwent is set to close.

Patients in Rassau, near Ebbw Vale, say they are "very disappointed" at the proposal to shut their surgery.

At present the branch surgery, run by Dr Yousuf Kunju and partners, is open for one hour a day on five days a week.

Around 400 patients are registered there, but the number of patients using the service is said to have been dwindling.

Now the surgery, next to the community centre in Summerfield Road, is set to close.

Patients will then have to travel to the doctors' main practice in Ebbw Vale or be able to transfer to the Braeside surgery, around a quarter of a mile away.

Patient Phil Hughes, who is also chairman of the Rassau Tenants and Residents' Association, said: "People are not happy about this. They are very disappointed.

"We have tried to put up a fight to keep it. This is a Communities First area and we do not want to lose any more of our facilities."

Blaenau Gwent's MP Llew Smith called the proposed closure "a massive blow".

He said: "It seems to me that our local community is being treated with a degree of contempt.

"We have some of the worst health problems in Wales and we don't need fewer surgeries.What we need is massive additional investment."

Rassau councillor David Wilkshire added: "The community feels as though everything is closing down."

Dr Kunju told the Argus that doctors' workload was the main reason for closing the branch surgery, and the fact that the number of patients had been dwindling.

"We are not able to provide a proper service for the patients there, it is only a namesake service," he said. "They have to come to Ebbw Vale for blood tests and health checks."

He added: "We have sympathy for the patients' feelings but we are trying to provide a better service for them."

* in the picture: Llew Smith MP with councillor David Wilkshire, left, and Peter Law AM at the Rassau surgery.