Hospital ends volunteers’ trolley rounds

♦ Volunteers who have provided a trolley service and shop at a hospital for 76 years claim they have been kicked out to make way for a “commercial” rival.

The Royal Voluntary Service has been involved at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, since 1941. Some volunteers have worked there for 30 years. They have been told to vacate the premises by Oct 24, though a hospital spokesman said “nothing had been decided”. Mary Finlayson, 44, a volunteer, said: “They are going to close the shop. Maybe it will be replaced with a chain.”