THE record number of people in East Lancashire suffering from sexually transmitted diseases is causing a crisis at a specialist clinic designed to treat them.

The numbers have reached such a high level that patients are being turned away from the clinic because it cannot cope with the increase in demand.

Managers of the genito-urinary medicine clinic at Blackburn Royal Infirmary now say the service needs to be urgently reviewed to cope with the numbers of visitors.

Although no exact numbers are available, the service has seen about a 20 per cent increase in the numbers of patients it is seeing in the last year. This followed a 40 per cent rise between 1996 and 1999.

Last year the Blackburn clinic was forced to introduce an appointments system to replace the walk-in scheme because of the demand.

And at a recent meeting, members of the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS trust board heard the service was struggling to cope.

Chairman Ian Woolley said: "I think, that if the system is not working well enough, it should be reviewed pretty urgently and we should decide what we can do about it."

Dr Sedki Gayed, East Lancashire's GUM consultant, who runs clinics at Blackburn Infirmary and Burnley General Hospital, said: "A few years ago HIV was a major worry for many people and sexually transmitted diseases started to drop because people were taking precautions. "But now the scares over the HIV virus appear to have reduced and I think that people are starting to take risks again and are practising unprotected sex.

"People have become a bit more relaxed about HIV but they should be cautious all the time.

"People should go back to having safe sex."

The GUM clinic at Blackburn Royal Infirmary is open on Monday and Thursday from 1.30-4.30pm, Tuesday from 9am-noon and Wednesday from 4-7pm.

For information about sexually transmitted diseases call 01254 687304 or 01254 294209.