BURNLEY is to get a field hospital to treat injured late-night revellers.

But the council leader has warned the centre could not be considered any compensation for the loss of the town's casualty department.

Gordon Birtwistle has welcomed the proposals for the facility - which will officially be known as the Rest and Retreat Centre and will be manned by police and paramedics - but said the town was still suffering the loss of services with the closure of the hospital's Accident and Emergency unit.

As part of the East Lancashire Hospital Trust's shake-up of health provision, blue light emergencies will go to Blackburn, alongside some general medical beds.

Orthopaedics, general surgery and breast services will be centered at Burnley.

Plans for the field centre were first revealed in the Lancashire Telegraph last November but the facility is now close to opening after planning permission was granted for the site at a former travel agents in Hammerton Street. Refurbishment work at the site is almost completed.

It will be open on Friday and Saturday nights - the busiest time in the town centre - for revellers who get lost or suffer minor injuries.

During the day it will operate as an information centre for different groups.

Coun Birtwistle said: "The centre seems like a good idea and should help relieve a bit of pressure on hospital staff at the weekends, which I believe is horrendous, as well as helping people feel safe and secure in the town centre.

"However, it won't be any compensation for the loss of the Accident and Emergency department."

Inspector Dave Croll, of Burnley police, said the initiative was being headed up by Sgt Nigel Lund and the Multi-Agency Problem Solving Team.

He added: "The idea is that the site, which is in the busiest spot in the town, will provide somewhere that people can go if they are assaulted or suffer an injury or need somewhere to sober up.

"It has nothing to do with the transfer of the Accident and Emergency unit at Burnley General Hospital, but it may help to relieve the pressure on hospital staff if people use the R and R centre.

"During the day it could be used as an information centre for things like bullying advice or for the youth offending teams to do interviews."

Figures for 2004/05 showed more than 4,500 hospital beds were being clogged up by drunks every year in East Lancashire.

Rae Wheatcroft, A and E service manager for East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust, said: "Attendances at our A and E departments are on the increase and this scheme may well help our busy clinical staff."

Earlier this week the Lancashire Telegraph revealed two medical wards were to go from Burnley General Hospital to the Royal Blackburn Hospital under the Meeting Patients Needs plans, fuelling anger among opponents already upset at the loss of A and E and other services at the Burnley site.