HEALTH bosses in Preston, South Ribble and Chorley have been given the go-ahead to combine the area's hospitals.

The move to merge the current Preston Acute Hospitals and the Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust, in Chorley, will create the only teaching hospital trust in the county.

As a teaching trust, it is hoped that a wider range of services will be provided by the hospitals, including research for new treatments.

Brian Booth, chairman of the Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are very pleased the health minister has decided to establish the trust. It will mean we will be able to attract high quality people and will be involved directly in the training of under graduate doctors.

"That will bring with it some additional funds, and we will be the only teaching hospital trust in Lancashire and Cumbria.

"The nearest other ones will be Liverpool and Manchester."

Steps were first taken toward the merger in 1998, when the two trusts unified their management and clinical services.

This was followed by a public consultation into the merger which concluded on March 10 this year.

The new trust will run all the area's NHS hospitals -- Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital, the Royal Preston Hospital and Sharoe Green Hospital, although the latter is due to close in April next year.

But the trust's management has assured people that all the current services provided by the hospitals will continue to exist.

Mr Booth welcomed the news saying: "There will be an expansion of services. Students will come from the medical school at Manchester University and will spend time in the hospitals in Preston and Chorley.

"It will help us move from just being a very good provider of local and some specialised services to being a regional provider."