A MAJOR leap has been taken towards improving mental health services in Lancaster and Morecambe.

Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust board has decided to set up a new inpatient service for residents of working age.

At a meeting this week, the board agreed to develop three sites around the Bay, including ones in Lancaster and Kendal, with in-patient services becoming part of extended, local community services.

The trust has highlighted the need for new community services to be developed and for users and carers to be involved in the detailed planning.

Peter Clarke, director of mental health, says: "We believe that the three-site option is the model best suited to the needs of people who live around Morecambe Bay and is the best basis for future services.

"It will bring particular challenges but it is up to us to find creative solutions to make it work. We will be working closely with Cumbria and Lancashire County Councils and with service users and carers, to ensure we can provide sound, safe and sustainable services into the future."

The new in-patient units will be developed in a programme to be phased over a number of years.