Redbridge Council has voted to demand an immediate halt to plans to close a failing A&E department while a full review of east London A&E services is carried out.

The council said it had “serious concern” that Barking, Havering, and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT), which runs King George Hospital in Goodmayes, was placed in special measures last month.

A&E services at the hospital have been earmarked for closure in 2015, when services are expected to move to Queen's Hospital in Romford.

However, the council called for an immediate halt to these plans until issues are resolved.

The trust was criticised by the Care Quality Commission for a lack of full-time staff and long waiting times.

At a fulll council meeting last week, the council voted for the authority's chief executive to write to the Department of Health to ask what support it will be giving the trust.

He will also be writing to the chief executive of BHRUT to ask that it presents its improvement plans to a health scrutiny committee at the earliest opportunity.

The council asked that the CQC report and the response from BHRUT be made available through Redbridge Council’s website.

A public meeting with representatives from BHRUT is also planned to give members of the public a chance to ask questions about planned improvements at the trust.