A petition to bring back Wycombe’s A&E has reached nearly 10,000 signatures.

The long-running campaign has been reignited by Cllr Khalil Ahmed, who launched the petition in October last year urging Wycombe MP Emma Reynolds to use her cabinet role to help secure the facility for the town. But the minister made clear it is not within an MP’s powers to deliver such facilities.

The petition had now reached 9,559 signatures, at the time of writing, as plans for a new £20 million hospital building on the site were given the go ahead. It also calls on the Department of Health and Social Care and Buckinghamshire Healthcare

NHS Trust to work together to restore the vital emergency service. Cllr Ahmed said residents had been waiting for 20 years for the return of a proper A&E and branded the current situation “unacceptable.”

At present, families must travel to Stoke Mandeville, Wexham Park or Oxford for emergency treatment – journeys that can take 30 to 45 minutes.

The call comes as Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust unveiled new plans for Wycombe Hospital, including proposals to move services out of the site’s ageing 1960s tower block, confirming there were no plans for an A&E.

“Since the closure of Wycombe’s A&E in 2005, residents have repeatedly voiced their concerns. Despite this, we have continued to be overlooked,” he said.

“While we welcome the recent £20 million investment in Wycombe Hospital, these plans fall short of addressing the town’s most urgent need: emergency care for our residents, right here in Wycombe.”

He added that the town had been let down before by MPs and governments, and that now was the time to act.

A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust previously said Wycombe Hospital already provides “outstanding” specialist emergency care for cardiac and stroke patients, as well as housing an intensive care unit and an Urgent Treatment Centre for minor injuries and illnesses.