NEW YEAR is the time to put the past behind you but staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital are putting it BENEATH them!

A special time capsule filled with memories from the end of the last millennium has been buried beneath the new multi-million pound coronary care unit.

Chairman of the Blackpool Victoria Hospital's NHS Trust, Mr Barry Fothergill, came to bury the capsule beneath a foundation stone at the front of the development.

It contains a limited edition coin, a photo of Tony Blair laying the original foundation stone for the development, construction photographs, plans of the hospital, details of pay for doctors and nurses and information about the Trust.

Mr Fothergill said: "We feel it is only right we leave a snapshot of the current state of hospital life, together with a summary of the history so that in years to come, future generations will have an understanding of the life and work of Blackpool Victoria Hospital."