Patients have criticised a doctor’s surgery after it threatened to take them off their books over “unflattering remarks" on social media.

Patients who complained about the Burnham Surgery on social networking site Facebook received letters last week telling them they would face the chop if their messages continued.

In a letter seen by the Standard, practice manager, Caron Tozer, wrote that partners would have “no alternative” but to remove the patient from its list due to “a breakdown of patient/doctor trust”.

It is the town’s only practice with around 9,300 patients on its books, with a catchment covering Burnham, Althorne and North Fambridge.

Residents who are axed face being left unable to receive healthcare from a GP, with the nearest surgery in Southminster.

A spokesman for the Care Quality Commission, an independent regulator for UK health services, confirmed this was the first case she had seen.

Nick Skeens, a patient at the surgery said: “It’s a really good surgery, but they need to get with the 21st century. People slate the NHS and healthcare organisations all the time.

“Threatening to cut patients off the list is ridiculous.

It’s like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

The Burnham Surgery refused to comment on the grounds of patient confidentiality.