BURNLEY'S maternity unit was shut for 10 hours - after just two members of staff went off sick.

The leader of Burnley Borough Council Gordon Birtwistle has branded the situation "absolutely diabolical" and said the hospital should have enough staff to cover two absences.

Burnley General Hospital's maternity unit was closed to new arrivals between 8pm on Sunday and 6am on Monday after two midwives went off sick with diarrhoea and vomiting.

Four women had to be transferred to Blackburn to give birth because of the shortage.

A hospital boss has said that patients were not put at risk due to the problems.

But Coun Birtwistle said: "If the whole of the midwifery unit at Burnley General Hospital depends on two people then we are in a sorry state of affairs.

"I am sure those women would not have wanted to give birth in Blackburn.

"They want their children born in Burnley where they live."

"The facilities should be there 24 hours a day seven days a week 52 weeks of the year and there should be enough staff there to cover that."

And the Royal College of Midwives union said the shutdown could have been prevented had more midwives been recruited into post.

A spokeswoman said: "We need more midwives. We should be looking at having not the immediate number needed but to have that number in excess.

"It is no good saying that it is alright because there are X' midwives in post.

"That is one of the things Government targets have done."

Burnley MP Kitty Ussher said she wanted the recent shake-up of services - which will see Burnley become East Lancashire's biggest birthing centre - to sort out any staffing problems.

Hospital bosses said the controversial changes - approved in September - had to happen as staff were too thinly spread between Burnley and Blackburn's hospitals.

Mrs Ussher said: "I hope that when Burnley specialises in births for the whole of East Lancashire that they will make sure that their rotas can cope with incidents such as this.

"But the most important thing was that these children were born safely."

Five beds for mums have been slashed at the maternity unit this year - and bosses want more staff to leave all departments to save cash.

Val Bertenshaw, divisional director for women's children's and diagnostics at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust said: "Capacity at Burnley General Hospital was reduced owing to short-term staff sickness and four expectant mothers were transferred from Burnley General Hospital to the Royal Blackburn Hospital to deliver their babies.

"Two staff were off with diarrhoea and vomiting so it is important that they were not around pregnant women.

"The unit was closed from 8pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday.

"It was closed to admissions where the woman was close to established labour."

"Maternity services based at Burnley General Hospital and the Royal Blackburn Hospital have contingency plans in place to ensure that the needs of women and their families are met.

"There was no risk to the mothers or babies involved. The maternity unit at Burnley is now back to full capacity."