A £300,000 plan was drawn up to solve a looming baby-boom hospital crisis.

A temporary ward would be built if the plan went ahead, but it would leave health officials with a huge staff pay headache.

Health authority chairman Ian Woolley said Blackburn was "disadvantaged" and called for an early start on a new purpose-built maternity unit.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.