Attempts to secure the future of a heart surgery unit have been hit by the latest report into proposals to transform services.

More than 600,000 people signed a petition calling on the Government to save the children’s heart surgery unit at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) from closure under plans to reduce the number of specialist centres across the country.

But despite the support for the centre in West Yorkshire and the whole of the county, only 10 per cent of consultees across the rest of the country backed an option to retain the LGI unit.

About 75,000 people offered their opinion on four options for the new-look heart services, with only one of the choices backing the retention of the Leeds unit.

And only one in ten backed the LGI option, with most people supporting schemes, which would see new heart centres in Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and two in London and then one more in either Leicester or Southampton.

The Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCT) will now take the results of the consultation into consideration before they are expected to make a decision by the end of the year.

Sir Neil McKay, chairman of the JCPCT, said: “The scale of the response confirms to me the importance of ensuring excellent NHS care for children with congenital heart disease.

“I am heartened by the overwhelming support for the quality standards, which are the bedrock of the Safe and Sustainable programme.

“Implementing these new standards will improve the quality of care for children across England.”

The petition to save the LGI unit was the largest of 25 submitted during the consultation and had the backing of a host of local MPs and families who had experienced the lifesaving skills of staff at the unit, including Naomi Wilkinson, from Ilkley, whose daughter Olivia underwent 18 hours of surgery after she was born in 2008.

For more information about the bid to save the LGI unit, go to chsf.org.uk.