Plans to force GP surgeries to open evenings and at weekends have provoked fury from an organisation representing local doctors.

It says being forced to open for evening and weekend sessions, as proposed by the Government, would harm the most vulnerable patients and affect the quality of care.

The Government wants surgeries to open for an extra half an hour for every 1,000 patients in blocks of one-and-a-half hours.

For an average practice with 6,000 patients, this would mean an additional three hours a week.

Dr John Givans, joint chief executive of the Local Medical Committee for Bradford and Airedale and North Yorkshire, said the Government was holding a gun to GPs' heads.

He said the targets were "politically inspired" with low priority being given to improving the quality of care.

He added that no new money to resource the longer hours - for example to pay nurses and practice staff - was being offered and existing money would simply be recycled.

"For nearly three months national representatives of NHS GPs have been involved in detailed negotiations with the NHS employers, aimed at coming to a UK-wide agreement on extending opening hours in the evenings and at weekends," he said.

"The Government has rejected the doctors' own proposals for offering longer hours and is instead threatening to impose a draconian contract if GPs won't agree to the deal on the table.

"The GPs' national representatives said that the Government's current proposals on extended hours cannot be accepted because doctors believe it will adversely affect the most vulnerable patients."