Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt was told to "come back to Planet Earth" yesterday despite the Government pledging an extra #750 million for community hospitals.

Ms Hewitt said the money would be available over the next five years and should help save some of the smaller hospitals "threatened with closure".

But she also warned that not all the existing Victorian cottage hospitals were suitable for delivering modern NHS services.

Andrew Lansley, for the Tories, said 80 community hospitals had been under threat of closure or partial closure. "The Secretary of State should come back to

Planet Earth and resolve those problems for community hospitals," he said.

The Government pledge was also condemned by Midland campaigners as an attempt to get "more PFI schemes in through the back door" after Ms Hewitt said private firms would be invited to invest in "a new generation of community hospitals".

There are more than 300 community hospitals in England but campaigners have said nearly a third are under threat. Earlier this year, plans to close three of Shropshire's community hospitals were scrapped.