OPPONENTS of Darwen's new health centre branded a meeting with NHS bosses "a sham" and "waste of time" and after claiming their questions were left unanswered.

Around 60 people packed into Darwen Leisure Centre on Saturday to discuss the development which is to be built nearby -- leaving people to walk uphill from the town centre to access it.

The rowdy meeting was frequently interrupted with calls for Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust to abandon the £11million investment and find another site for the development.

Darwen MP, Janet Anderson, said residents went away from the meeting with their questions unanswered.

She said: "I was very disappointed with the meeting and I don't think PCT members answered questions to their full extent. There is still the question of transport to the new site and people are still unsure as to why this site was chosen."

Residents say the current health centre, which will be closed and sold-off, is in a more convenient location in Union Street.

One resident, Eileen Eastham, said: "I think everyone in the room welcomes the new centre and we want it in Darwen, but we are not happy about the location.

"We're all worried disabled and elderly people won't be able to get up the hill."

Another protester, who didn't want to be named, said: "It's a sham and an insult to the democratic process to say we were all consulted about this."

Opponent Roy Davies said: "It's a waste of time because the decisions have already been made. I have a petition with 400 signatures opposing this proposal but it's too late to do anything about it because it's all been so rushed."

Members of the PCT and council chiefs offered no solutions to the transport problems at the health scrutiny meeting, but said consultations would be on-going with residents.

Holy Trinity School at Bank Top was revealed as the preferred site for a 'state-of-the-art' football pitch, which will be relocated from the leisure centre as a result of the new development.

Steve Rigby, council director of culture, leisure and sport, said: "Holy Trinity is looking like an excellent site for us to use at the moment because it's central and we will be able to work with the school to provide an excellent facility."

John Threlfall, council chief co-ordinator of public transport said: "We have a dedicated team working on this. We know there are issues related to transport, but can't do much before the plans have been laid out."

David Brunskill, director of corporate development for the PCT, defended the trust's decision for the choice of the site.

He said: "We were looking for a large site and it would be impossible to have modern medicine in an old building. We discussed and looked at a wide range of sites in Darwen and we discovered that this was the best one."

The possibility of a 'one-stop-shop' was highlighted by members of the PCT board who said that a structure containing social services and health would be beneficial for the town.