NHS England has pledged to support people living in Elstree if the village's only pharmacy has its funding slashed.

Manor Pharmacy, in Elstree Hill, discovered it would stop receiving the £40,000 subsidy which helps the business stay open each year.

Pharmacist Sarya Ali and owner Graham Philips are now appealing the decision from NHS England and have collected 60 signatures in support.

A normal pharmacy needs to dispense around 5,000 prescriptions to survive without help from the NHS, but Manor currently completes about 2,000.

The nearest pharmacy is in Borehamwood, which staff say is a struggle for elderly and disabled patients to get to.

A statement from NHS England said: “The ending of the essential small pharmacies local pharmaceutical services pilot scheme does not mean those providers will have to close and businesses affected have been reminded of the options available to them.

“Area teams are considering where support will be needed when the scheme ends as planned in April and to reduce any impact on affected communities.”