A MUCH-loved Fareham maternity hospital has been shut down after it was branded a fire hazard and closed immediately.

Blackbrook Birth Centre in Fareham failed fire safety checks and health bosses took action to shut it to inpatients.

Four new mums were at the 13-bed unit when the snap decision was taken on Friday.

They were given the option of going home or being taken to the Blake Birth Centre in Gosport.

One woman had her baby there in the morning and went home in the afternoon.

Helen Edwards, of Catisfield Lane, Fareham, had ten-month-old Mia at another hospital and then went to Blackbrook for support and advice.

She said: "Going to Blackbrook was the best thing that I could have done. There's always someone there to help you and I wouldn't have known half the things I do otherwise.

"It's awful that people won't have that option now."

The 150-year-old Grade II listed building in Blackbrook House Drive failed a routine check by fire safety officers, who found the fire alarm system was not up to scratch.

When health managers from Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, clinicians and fire safety advisers met to discuss the report, they decided the closure was essential for patient safety.

Work to install more heat and smoke detectors and emergency lighting, as well as upgrading the fire protection offered by two doors, has already begun and the home is expected to reopen on May 9.

Inger Hebden, director of commissioning at the PCT, said: "We are sorry that the decision has been made with such short notice but felt this was the right decision for the safety of mums and babies especially given that they sleep upstairs overnight."

Ante-natal clinics, the breastfeeding support group and parentcraft sessions will continue as normal.

Women due to deliver before mid-May at Blackbrook will be contacted by the senior midwife for the area.

Anxious mums-to-be can call 023 9252 3651.

About 130 people choose the midwife-run unit, which specialises in low-risk births and aftercare, each year.