STUNNED health bosses have revealed that more than £35,000 of vital equipment has been stolen from a Blackburn hospital.

The apparatus was put in storage while the eye theatre at Blackburn Royal Infirmary was being refurbished.

But when staff went to retrieve it three months later they discovered it had been taken.

The equipment included an anaesthetic machine, a ventilator and a vital signs monitor.

There are now fears that it has been taken out of the country and sold on, possibly to the Third World.

Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust bosses have borrowed replacement equipment from a supplier to allow operations to continue. Loss adjusters from the health authority's insurers were due at the hospital today to finalise the insurance claim.

Blackburn Infirmary site manager Ewen Dyda said the theft was discovered on Sunday, May 25.

He added: "This is a heavy piece of equipment which would take quite an effort to move.

"We were stunned to find it had been taken. It is very difficult to say but it seems it has been stolen to order, potentially for someone in another country."

Detective Inspector Terry Richardson, of Blackburn CID, said: "Whoever stole this equipment must have known it was vital and would be needed for important operations."

The haul is made up of an Ohmeda Boyle M. anaesthetic machine (serial number 8367), an Ohmeda ventilator (serial number FLB-11), a Datascope vital signs monitor (serial number 380042DER), a Pulse oxymeter (serial number 7757BO), seven vaporisers and a storage trolley.

Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact police on 01254 51212.

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