Thousands of people witnessed the biggest protest rally in Chichester's history against possible closure of St Richard's Hospital services.

Rolling Stone Keith Richards was at the forefront of the march, organised by the Sussex-based Observer series newspapers.

He led the march through the streets from Chichester College to Priory Park, where up to 14,000 people gathered.

The 63 year-old said: "We have all got other things to do on a Saturday, the fact that we are all here doing this is amazing.

"I have used St Richard's a couple of times myself. Why are we talking about down-grading things? We should be talking about upgrading things."

Observer series editor Colin Channon said: "We were hoping to attract around 5,000 campaigners to match last year's rally. But to get 14,000 was incredible.

"It just shows how strongly people feel about the threat to downgrade the A&E and maternity services at St Richard's. All of my editorial staff rallied to help as marshals and it proved to be an unforgettable day."

Other celebrities and councillors joined in the event, which grew in number as it passed through streets lined with people cheering them on.

Actress Patricia Routledge urged the public to have one last push to send their letters to the primary care trust before the deadline in two weeks' time.

Actor Christopher Timothy said: "I just hope there are enough people here to make a difference to stop the closure.

"The people who know much more about it than we do all say it is a very fine hospital."

Co-chairman of the Support St Richard's campaign and consultant at the hospital Marjory Greig said: "The amount of people here is absolutely fantastic. It just goes to show how many people really support St Richard's."