A NEW hospital development could be blocking television signals to homes in Blackburn, according to developers.

The new Queen's Park Hospital building off Haslingden Road is starting to take shape and a steel structure could be the reason homes have had problems getting a picture.

The news comes in the same week residents complained staff and visitors were leaving cars outside their homes, instead of paying for pay and display parking at the hospital.

Residents asked Blackburn with Darwen Council to introduce restrictions on the streets close to the building to stop staff and visitors parking.

Lorraine Dickinson, of Sherwood Road, said her and her neighbours had suffered signal deterioration since the new development at Queen's Park Hospital began to take shape.

She said: "Before the construction I was able to receive all five terrestrial channels, plus digital. Now I can't get Channel Five and I have no digital channels whatsoever.

"According to the contractors at Queen's Park the situation is unlikely to change, if at all, until the completion of the building."

Contractors at the site have told residents the new building's steel frame structure could be to blame for the loss of signals and has told East Lancashire Healthcare NHS Trust about the complaints.

A letter from the contractors at the Queen's Park site said: "The advice that we have received is that the new hospital extension could be a contributing factor. However, this is not conclusive and it is not until the structure reaches its final state that the true subjective effect of the building can be appraised."

The letter also adds: "There is, unfortunately, no right to receive uncorrupted TV signals off-air."

According to an East Lancashire Healthcare NHS Trust spokesman that could mean residents are left waiting until July 2006 before an assessment is made.

That, according to Mrs Dickinson, is not on. She added: "It's just not fair that someone can come along and put a huge monstrosity up and I and my neighbours lose out television reception.

"I've had to pay for an engineer to sort out my channels and I still can't get them all. They say no-one has a right to a signal but I had one before."

A spokesman for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said they were aware of the complaints and would continue to monitor the situation with developers.