Surbiton Hospital is under serious threat of closure because ongoing maintenance is proving too costly and the deteriorating state of the building is putting patients' health at risk, Kingston Primary Care Trust (PCT) has revealed.

Chairman of the trust Paul Holmes said keeping the hospital safe and hygienic required constant repairs, and said he felt it was time to draw a line under the expense rather than continue throwing good money after bad.

The PCT board will be asked at a meeting today to approve proposals to move all patients, many of whom are elderly or terminally ill, from the wards before winter sets in, as further delays would cost yet more money.

Exactly where they would go will be discussed at the meeting, but the "conversation" with the public over the future of the site will not happen for the time being, the first priority being to move people safely before winter.

Mr Holmes reassured the public that any future changes would not be rushed through, but refused to rule out any possibilities, even the sale of some of the land in Ewell Road to residential developers.

He said the hospital in it's current state of disrepair, was not an ideal environment for patients.

He added: "In the longer term, once we have dealt with this, we have to look at what is then the best option and that is when we need to engage with people.

"The poor weather in late August has really brought things to a head for us. At the very least we have to spend a large amount of money to patch up the roof."

One of the options will be to put some of the 14 in-patients in Tolworth Hospital, which has room available.

PCT members have been scratching their heads over Surbiton Hospital for many years now, knowing that they would one day need to take radical action.

The maintenance needs of the building continue to worsen the backup generator needs replacing, there are too few sinks in one of the wards and water is leaking through the roof and under the floorboards, causing risk of infection.

The cost of bringing the hospital, opened in 1936, up to standard has spiralled over the years, and has now reached a point, Mr Holmes believes, where public money would be better spent elsewhere.

The news is sure to spark concern among local residents who have long fought to keep the hospital and have previously aired concerns that the PCT may want to sell part of the land, which is in a sought after area of Surbiton.

The PCT board will be asked to vote through changes today, with a view to move patients out before the cold weather sets in. Doing it any later, Mr Holmes said, would require them to wait until after winter and would add unnecessarily to costs.

It was not known exactly how much the move would cost and there were still many questions to be answered.

Any concerned members of the public are invited to attend the meeting, which takes place at PCT headquarters, Hollyfield Road, Surbiton at 2pm.