Battle lines drawn in fight to champion Mid Wales

Mr Hunt vowed to give patients from the area a voice in Parliament should the Conservatives remain in Government. He made the pledge after being told on a visit to Newtown that people in Mid Wales could end up dying before reaching hospital should A&E services move to Telford as part of a shake-up of emergency healthcare in Shropshire.

His visit to support Tory candidate Glyn Davies came as Liberal Democrat leader Mr Clegg visited the region to support his party's candidate Jane Dodds.

Mr Clegg, who was in Llanidloes yesterday, claimed that more than £1 billion would have been taken out of the Welsh economy had the Liberal Democrats not stopped the Conservative plans for regional pay.

The Montgomeryshire seat is expected to be one of the most closely-fought battles in the region. Mr Davies defeated former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik in 2010 but has a majority of just 1,184, and Mr Clegg's party has made a concerted effort to win the seat back this time around.

Mr Hunt was quizzed by Joy Jones, chairman of Newtown Patient Health Forum, who claimed that the lives of Mid Wales residents could be under threat should A&E services in Shropshire be centralised at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital

She said: "If these services move to Telford it would mean people from our area would not arrive in the golden hour. It would be disastrous. If there is a new hospital it must be on the Mid Wales border."

Mr Hunt made the visit to support Conservative Montgomeryshire candidate Glyn Davies, who has been the region's MP for the last five years.

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Mr Davies said: "It was hugely positive to have Jeremy here and the campaigners really let their concerns be known. It is a huge issue and it is vital that the 75 per cent of people in Montgomeryshire who use the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital are reassured. Moving the services to Telford would be a disaster. People will die, absolutely."

Mr Hunt said, however, there was a huge case for centralisation. He said: "There's a very powerful clinical case for centralising some services across the country. However, I promise that if myself and Glyn both get back in then Welsh voices will be heard on this case and Glyn will meet with the local CCG. Welsh voices will be heard the same as English."

Mr Clegg visited Llanidloes War Memorial Hospital on his trip to the area.

He said: "The Tories wanted to pay people less just because they work in Wales – we stopped them.

"Without the Liberal Democrats in government, the Tories would have taken over a billion pounds out of the Welsh economy with public sector workers having their wages slashed.

"Regional pay fails the economic test and it also fails the fairness test. It would only serve to further ingrain regional inequalities and that is why we fought to stop it.

"And let's not forget that Labour's hands are dirty on this issue. They introduced regional pay by bringing it into our courts system.

"We made sure the coalition didn't repeat Labour's mistakes. The Welsh Liberal Democrats played a key role in stopping regional pay. They led the campaign from the beginning and deserve credit for standing up for the people of Wales.

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"The way to build a stronger economy and fairer society, where everyone has opportunity to get on in life, is not to punish public sector workers outside of London and the south east."

Earlier, Mr Clegg told a press conference in London there was a "clear and present danger" to public services from the prospect of David Cameron attempting to run a Tory minority government.

He said there were "just two weeks left to stop the right-wing threat to Britain" caused by Mr Cameron possibly being forced to rely on Ukip, the Democratic Unionist Party and his own hardline backbenchers for support.

Mr Clegg issued the fresh warning about the right-wing alliance he has termed "Blukip" as he promised that the Liberal Democrats would spare public sector workers from further pay cuts.

He said: "Liberal Democrats will always act in the national interest to keep Britain stable and anchor the government in the centre ground.

"But there is a very real danger that the next government will not put the national interest first.

"I fear Britain may be sleepwalking into a dangerous future: a government that will lurch away to the extremes of left or right because Ed Miliband is held hostage by a small band of left-wing separatists on one hand, or because David Cameron is held to ransom by hard-right ideologues that will threaten our public services and our shared values on the other."

He added: "Make no mistake, there is a clear and present danger that this Blukip alliance will hold the balance of power after May 7."