Watford's MP has responded after councillors passed a motion demanding progress on the long-awaited Watford General Hospital rebuild.

Councillor Ian Stotesbury, Liberal Democrat for Callowland, proposed a motion at Tuesday's council meeting calling on the government to prioritise the rebuild of the hospital.

The motion, while largely symbolic, passed unanimously, as he said: "The doom and gloom that has been coming out from the last weeks and months from this government is not what we need."

He added: "We need a bold vision to commit to investing in critical infrastructure in this country. This is not a project that needs review, this is a project that needs funding.”

Watford General: 'review' of 40 hospital project called

Watford General update 'not expected before autumn budget'

Watford was earmarked as one of the areas that would receive funding under the previous government's plans to build 40 new hospitals by 2030.

Labour MP Matt Turmaine laid the blame for the delay at the feet of the previous government.

Mr Turmaine said: "This government inherited a £22bn 'black hole' in the nation's finances from the Conservatives, a party who spent many of their 14 years in power in coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

"They failed in 14 years to deliver a new hospital. We've had since July 4."

He added that "everyone knows you can't magic up a hospital just like that".

A multi-storey car park has already been built, an overall planning application has been approved, all the land has been bought, and a new access road has been laid.

With July's General Election seeing a change of government, new Health Secretary Wes Streeting put the project on ice, leaving the plans in limbo.

Watford Conservative Association Chair Stephen Woodard responded to Mr Turmaine, saying: “Thanks to the relentless work of Dean Russell, our former Conservative Watford MP, the previous government had made a cast-iron commitment to prioritise Watford General as part of the new Hospital programme, meaning investment of over £1billion for a brand new Watford General hospital.

"This positioning of Watford General at the top of the list was a win for our whole community.

"Hopefully it isn't too late to save the new Watford General from Labour politicking. The whole community should be writing to ask Matt why he isn’t standing up for residents or our local NHS staff."

At this week's meeting, Liberal Democrat Mayor Peter Taylor said: "This Labour Party in government are making decisions that are delaying investment in local healthcare because of their fiscal rules.

“We all know, the longer the delay happens, the more costs will go up, the more patients will suffer, the more staff will have to work in inadequate conditions."

Any significant update on the hospital's future is unlikely to come before the autumn budget, set to be delivered on October 30.