A HEALTH boss was heckled at a council meeting over the shelving of plans for a new multi-million pound hospital in Clitheroe.

Steve Spoerry, chief executive of East Lancashire PCT, attended the heated meeting in the town hall and faced angry residents and councillors who demanded answers about the future of the scheme.

A £12million project to build a new a community hospital was halted in December.

The PCT said, as a result of the recession, all work had stopped.

At the meeting, Mr Spoerry apologised to residents and said the future of the hospital could be decided at a board meeting in March.

He said: “I understand that a lot of people have given up their time to take part in working groups to plan for the future of the hospital.

"I am sincerely sorry about what has happened and I want to reassure everyone who volunteered their time that it has not been wasted.

“We will be looking at a number of options and we will try and reach a resolution as soon as possible.”

This sparked anger from many councillors, including the Mayor of Clitheroe, Coun Mary Robinson, and heckles from people seated in the public gallery.

Coun Robinson said: “The property at the moment is old, decrepit and inefficient and we are throwing money at it.

“The people want to hear it straight. Are we getting a hospital?”

Mr Spoerry said that he was not prepared to give a definite answer and he assured people that current services would remain in place.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans, said: “The turnout this evening shows how much the public supports the community hospital.

"I’m still horrified that the project has been put on hold.”