People packed into Newborough Village Hall in their hundreds earlier this week to sign on the dotted line and re-register as Newborough Surgery patients.

The move comes just weeks after Peterborough Primary Care Trust (PCT) announced the appointment of Dr Mohsin Laliwala in a letter to the 1,300 patients registered at Newborough Surgery.

Three months earlier, the partners of Thorney Medical Practice announced they intended to stop providing services in the village.

At the formal public meeting organised by a local action group, chief executive of the PCT Angela Bailey introduced Dr Laliwala to the residents of Newborough – the second rural area in which a practice has been saved by the GP.

In 2002, he rescued Ailsworth Medical Centre from closure.

Villagers were eager to hear about Dr Laliwala’s future plans for the surgery and were given the chance to raise concerns and ask questions about registering and travelling to other practices for appointments.

Dr Laliwala, who has worked in Peterborough since 1990, said: “I am looking forward to providing the Newborough community with high class patient care.

“My staff and I are delighted to be accepted to take on this challenge and are positive that we can deliver.

“We have been well received and welcomed by the community and already a large number of patients have started registering with us.

“We have also set up Ailsworth Health Link which enables us to provide transport for our patients living in Newborough, who need to travel to Ailsworth for appointments until our new premises in the village is set up.

“The residents seemed to be really quite pleased that something is finally being done.”

Chairman of the Save Our Surgery action group Wilf Mason said: “I’m absolutely over the moon.

“We have been a small action group but the six members have been totally committed.

“This is absolutely fantastic news. The concerns about travelling have been allayed by the PCT.

“They have been criticised, but now they should be commended.”

The PCT conducted the rigorous interviews, where Dr Laliwala proved to a panel of directors that he should be awarded the contract, as well as succeeding in an interview with patient representatives from Newborough where he was asked questions raised by patients at the previous public meetings.

The PCT is now seeking planning permission to build a new surgery which will sit alongside the village hall, in Guntons Road.