A PSYCHIATRIC hospital in Langho where a dangerous patient escaped last month has unveiled plans to construct a new 18-bed unit.

Managers at the Kemple View Unit in Longsight Road today reassured nearby residents that security at the site had been stepped up after the patient absconded.

The new unit will house patients detained under the Mental Health Act and the new plans replace those for a 16-bed unit, for which the hospital already has planning consent.

Debbie McCabe, deputy director at Kemple View, said: "We already have consent for a 16-bed building and are asking the planning authority to revoke this and give us consent for the new unit on another part of the site.

"It's not our intention to expand the site further than we have already stated and this is not a departure from our existing plans. The new patients will be housed as part of our existing registration for people with mental illness."

John Hill, 30, who was sent to Kemple View from South Yorkshire after being convicted of making threats to kill, absconded from the hospital in August and returned after 24-hour.

Police had warned he was dangerous and advised the public not to approach him.

His escape prompted a review of security at the hospital, which resulted in a revamp of security procedures for staff.

Security at the hospital was also reviewed with care homes watchdog the National Care Standards after convicted knifeman Albert Oszmianski, 39, spent a week on the run from the unit last September.

He was detained indefinitely at the unit on the orders of a judge and had been walking in the grounds unsupervised when he escaped.

Convicted sex offender Peter Wedge, 40, also absconded during a day trip to Blackburn in June, 2000, and was found by police two days later in a lay-by in the New Forest.

Kemple View houses up to 64 patients who are referred under the Mental Health Act for treatment with a view to stabilise and rehabilitate them back into society

Security measures at the site include restricted opening windows, double entry doors, perimeter fencing and CCTV, but it is not classed as a high or medium secure unit.

Debbie McCabe added: "We have raised awareness of company policy and procedure among staff. People sometimes forget to follow procedures and it does no harm to remind them.

"We have also extended the number of people in the community that we report absconsions to and upgraded the information we send to the National Care Standards Commission."

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said security must be paramount.