HOSPITAL chiefs said today they would review procedures after a mental health patient went missing and threw herself into a nearby canal.

The woman, in her late 50s, was later found safe and well by the side of the Leeds and Liverpool canal by emergency services, who were alerted by a local garage owner.

The woman was taken to the accident and emergency department at Blackburn Royal Infirmary before being readmitted to the mental health unit at Queens Park Hospital, Blackburn, where she is classed as an in-patient.

A spokesman for the hospital said the patient was not 'high risk' but confirmed that she was not supposed to be out of the hospital grounds.

"The patient was reported missing within our normal observation levels and we feel that our procedure has been followed," added the spokesman. "But we will hold a review starting today to see if any lessons could be learned from that incident and we will change the procedures accordingly." As an informal patient, the woman is not detained and is free to move about, but the spokesman admitted that she should not have been off the ward.

Following her escape, the patient made her way to the stretch of canal near to Grimshaw Park where police said she threw herself in.

The stretch had recently been drained as police searched for what was thought to be a missing baby and, as a result, the canal was not at its normal level.

Emergency services were called to the scene by a garage owner who was praised by police.

Paul Gallagher, 45, said he became suspicious when the woman approached him at his Crossfield Car Centre in Haslingden Road, and asked for directions to the canal.

Mr Gallagher called the police, who found the woman by the side of the canal.

"We would like to thank Mr Gallagher for remaining alert and ringing us when he became suspicious," said Blackburn Police Inspector Phil Cottam. "If it wasn't for his concern the woman may have come to serious harm."

In December 1998, voluntary patient Lisa Jordan, 23, of Blackburn Road, Accrington, ran out of the psychiatric unit at Queen's Park Hospital and her body was discovered in nearby Guide Reservoir on January 3.

Her father later told the inquest into her death how the family felt let down by the system.