HEALTH chiefs are warning of an explosion in cases of tuberculosis in Burnley and Pendle over the next 12 months.

The East Lancashire TB/Meninigitis service, set up in January, has employed two specialist nurses to tackle the disease in the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale area.

The cash-strapped Burnley Healthcare NHS Trust did not have the £2,000 cash to pay for the refurbishment of a room at Pendle Community Hospital to house them. It needed electrical work, phone lines and carpeting but the nurses have now been found othere accommodation.

Blackburn already has a fully operational service to deal with cases of TB -- there are currently around 60 a year in Blackburn and 50 in Burnley, one of the highest rates in the country -- and health bosses are aiming to have a similar service in Burnley. They say numbers could rise to as many as 130 in the next year.

The Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community Health Council has written to trust chiefs to stress the importance of having a fully operational service in the Burnley area.

Cases in East Lancashire had been dropping since the 1980s but are once again on the increase due to poor housing, deprivation and the number of immigrants coming to the area.

Worst affected are central Blackburn, Brierfield and Nelson, though Rossendale is also at risk.

People diagnosed with TB require six months treatment with medication taken every day, 30 minutes before breakfast. If patients are reluctant to take medication they are asked to attend a health centre three times a week so they can be monitored.