More than 500 people have joined the fight to bring a pharmacy to Saltney.
A petition was stationed outside Morrisons last Friday (September 20) in an effort to gather support for the highly-debated proposal.
Supermarket giant Morrisons has had at least three applications to build an in-store pharmacy rejected despite originally receiving the go-ahead from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Neighbouring pharmacies Boots in Broughton Shopping Park and Vittoria Healthcare, on the Chester side of Saltney, appealed against the plans resulting in the Welsh Government’s decision to discard the application on the grounds that the town has sufficient facilities nearby.
Residents argue that they are now left with a choice of driving a four-and-half mile round trip to the nearest Welsh alternative or paying for their prescriptions at a pharmacy on the English side of Saltney.
The application and appeals against it will now be reconsidered and a fresh decision is expected to be made in October this year.
Backing the campaign to set up the pharmacy are Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant and MP Mark Tami, who were both present at the petition signing.
Mr Sargeant said: “We were overwhelmed by the number of shoppers who wanted to pledge their support and sign our petition.
“Some even made a special trip to Morrisons just to add their names to the list.
“It just goes to show the strength of feeling in the town about this issue.
“Almost all of the people we spoke to wanted to sign and said they were very keen for Saltney to get its own pharmacy.
“The current situation is not convenient for residents, particularly those who are elderly or have ongoing medical conditions and are having to travel to Broughton or Chester on a regular basis to pick up their medicine.”
