The editor of the South Wales Evening Post has handed over a petition containing more than 103,000 signatures to the Welsh Assembly.

The Kids Come First petition aims to persuade health minister Jane Hutt, and chief executive of Dyfed Powys Health Authority, Dr Ainsley Reid, that specialist children's hospital services should remain in Swansea instead of being moved to Cardiff.

Editor George Edwards and Welsh affairs correspondent Susan Bailey delivered the petition of 103,738 signatures - more than three times the size of any other petition given to the Assembly.

George said: "On behalf of all the people who signed the petition, all we are asking is that this issue is judged entirely on its merits.

"If it is, then we are convinced the right decision will be taken."

The campaign has received support from all over West Wales in the past few months. It is feared that children's lives could be put at risk if the paediatric neurosurgery unit at Morriston Hospital is closed and moved to Cardiff.

George added: "This campaign has never lost momentum or looked like it was running out of steam. The force of feeling is something which has surprised some of us.

"It is not a five-minute wonder and the response shows how important this issues is to so many people."

Dr Reid said the petition would form an important part of the consultation process, which ends on September 30.

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