Success in high-profile campaigns are like buses at the Southern Daily Echo in Southampton – they wait months to win one and then four victories have turned up at once.

The good news started when Hampshire health bosses announced that five community hospitals threatened with closure would remain open.

New Forest Primary Care Trust’s plans to axe more than 100 beds in the region prompted a groundswell of public opposition that included a 40,000 signature petition and a 2,000-strong rally organised by the Daily Echo.

Trust chiefs said they had had a major rethink on the plans and the hospitals would now remain open until next year.

The paper’s End the Silent Calls campaign also ended in success with news that a major crackdown would be launched against companies which use the controversial marketing tool.

Readers joined forces with BBC Radio Solent listeners calling for an end to the menace of silent calls that happen when telephonists are not able to answer the number of computer generated calls resulting in a large number of abandoned lines.

Households must now be told who is calling them and have the facility to block the call. If companies flout the new rules they face a £50,000 fine.

The Southern Daily Echo has played a major part in securing the future of a vital Hampshire ferry link.

Bosses at the historic Hythe Ferry claimed the business was on the verge of being sunk by a massive rates hike.

But commuters, politicians and local residents joined a Daily Echo campaign demanding a U-turn to keep the link from Hythe Pier to Southampton afloat.

The campaign was backed by more than 15,000 Daily Echo readers.

The paper further tasted victory when Southampton councillors performed an abrupt U-turn on their policy of limiting the Poppy Appeal to just one day of collecting on the city centre’s streets.

Pressure from the paper, backed by MPs, veterans and other charities representing the elderly, forced the city council to let volunteers sell poppies in the whole week running up to Remembrance Sunday and promise to review the policy for future years.

Daily Echo editor Ian Murray said: “We pride ourselves on being at the heart of the community and the support from our readers for these four campaigns has been exceptional.

“To win four in the space of ten days was beyond our wildest dreams.

“We have just launched a Beat The Freeze campaign to help keep people warm during what is predicted to be the coldest winter for nearly 20 years. The way our campaigns are going it will probably turn out to be unseasonably mild.”