Prime Minister Theresa May has refused to intervene to stop consultant-led maternity services being removed from Whitehaven.

She claims that the majority of clinicians agree with the move - despite local obstetricians and midwives saying the opposite.

Her comments come in a letter to Copeland MP Jamie Reed, who called on the Prime Minister to step in urgently to prevent women in west Cumbria being forced to travel to Carlisle while in labour.

This plan, put forward by the Success Regime, is currently out to public consultation - with a meeting taking place in Whitehaven this afternoon.

But there are widespread concerns - including those expressed by staff currently working in the service - about the safety of mothers and babies travelling 40 miles in an ambulance along the A595.

Yet Mrs May said: “I am advised that, whilst there are some dissenting views as outlined in your letter, the Success Regime considers a general consensus exists amongst clinicians that a consultant-led maternity unit is unsustainable in Whitehaven."

After receiving the Prime Minister's response, Mr Reed has branded the ongoing consultation "an expensive sham".

The news comes less than two weeks after health minister Philip Dunne visited the West Cumberland Hospital, and less than a week since Mrs May’s made a comment during Prime Minister’s Questions that “what matters is a safe maternity service for mother and baby”.

The Copeland MP has now renewed his call to the Prime Minister to meet women and babies whose lives would be put at risk if the controversial proposals are allowed to go ahead.

“By refusing to intervene to ensure a safe maternity service for mother and baby, and by indicating support for proposals to remove 24 hour consultant led services from the West Cumberland Hospital, the Prime Minister has both undermined the Success Regime consultation process, and done a great disservice to families in west Cumbria.

"Tragically, the consultation has now been exposed as an expensive sham," said Mr Reed.

The details of Mrs May's response came as Mr Reed publicly called again for the Prime Minister to visit the hospital and witness the reality for herself.

During Prime Minister's Questions this lunchtime, the Copeland MP again made the plea - reiterating that clinicians at the hospital believe the removal of 24-hour consultant-led maternity services will cost lives.

Mrs May said that such a decision would be made locally, based on the needs and safety of patients.