A MAJOR investigation was launched into the mounting costs of hospital repairs and East Lancashire MPs called for action.

Junior health minister Stephen Dorrell revealed the size of the problem in The Commons and claimed the North West faced a repairs bill of more than £80 million. But the Lancashire Evening Telegraph revealed that he was using year-old figures and the repair bill had almost doubled.

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