5 March 2012 Last updated at 14:36 ET

Doctors have called for a rethink of plans to split the Plymouth-based Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD).

A letter from the Devon Local Medical Committee (DLMC) called the move by PCMD founders University of Exeter and Plymouth University a "disaster".

The plans would mean a medical and dental school at Plymouth and a medical school at Exeter.

PCMD, which opened in 2000, has 200 medical and 64 dentistry students.

The DLMC, which represents Devon GPs, said in a letter to Plymouth University Vice Chancellor Wendy Purcell that the announcement in January was a "momentous shock to all students and staff involved with the medical school across the peninsula".

It feared that the "excellent collaborative work" in research projects at the college would be disrupted.

It added that if a split was the only way forward, it was "essential" that medical student numbers were distributed fairly "to ensure two sustainable medical schools emerge".

The proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region

The letter said: "The NHS should be working together across the peninsula and the proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region."

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Medical school split a 'disaster'