CHEMISTS are shutting up shop for good on Sundays in a major New Forest town.

Pharmacies in Ringwood will no longer provide emergency cover on Sundays because they say that not enough people are using them.

The nearest alternatives for residents needing a prescription immediately will now be in Ferndown or the Castlepoint shopping centre.

Fears have been raised that the elderly may suffer because they often do not have their own transport to drive the extra distance.

Mary Mitchell, assistant director of Age Concern Hampshire, told the Daily Echo: "It may well be that it is not being used very much but if the people that are using it are older people, it is yet another example of discrimination against older people who may not have cars or relatives living locally. In other words, it hits the most vulnerable."

Two pharmacies - Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy both in Southampton Road - previously took it in turns to open on Sundays.

The New Forest Primary Care Trust approved the Sunday closure after staff monitored how many people were using them.

A PCT spokesman said: "The pharmacists in Ringwood monitored their usage for around three months and they were not getting customers. There were people occasionally coming in for cough linctus and paracetamol but that is not what an emergency chemist is there for.

"The original reason for the Sunday rota was to support the Sunday emergency service at the two main health centres in Ringwood.

"Since the change in doctors' contracts these services have ceased and patients have retained their medicines during the week."

She added that the arrival of the Castlepoint shopping centre on the outskirts of Bournemouth has had a major impact on the usage of Ringwood chemists on Sundays.

The spokesman said that elderly people or those without transport can phone a special number to access the community pharmacy on-call service to obtain prescription medicines needed urgently.

It can be accessed by either calling NHS Direct on 0845 4647 or phoning a patient's local out of hours service.

Martin Cox, chairman of the New Forest Patient and Public Involvement Forum, said: "We are disappointed that the minimal use apparently made of the pharmacies has meant it is no longer commercially viable to open on Sundays."

The Ringwood pharmacies will still provide Bank Holiday Monday cover.