THE new multi-million pound hospital for the Blackburn area will be called the Royal Blackburn Hospital when it opens its doors in 2005.

But health chiefs who voted for the new name will still have to wait to get royal approval for the change.

The new £86 million building will include an extension to Queen's Park Hospital and will replace Blackburn Royal Infirmary, bringing all the services on to one site for the first time.

Board members from Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, voted for the change of name as expected at their trust board meeting.

The other option they had was the Queen's Royal Hospital, which was the most popular name chosen by Lancashire Evening Telegraph readers.