PEOPLE affected by the closure of a mental health ward are getting their chance to have their say -- more than a month after it closed.

Residents in the Rossendale Valley are being asked to give their views on the closure of Ward 11, an acute adult mental health unit at Rossendale Hospital, at two meetings organised by the local council.

The meetings follow the announcement that Rossendale Hospital's mental health services are to be transferred to Burnley General Hospital and complaints by residents that they had not been given a say.

Patients said they were left desperate after the ward was axed without them being given prior warning.

One patient, Patricia Rush, 53, of Thistlemount Avenue, who suffers form severe anxiety, said she was unable to get help when she phoned Ward 11, only to be told it had closed.

She had to call 999 to try to get help and ended up being taken to Burnley General Hospital for treatment.

But Lancashire Care NHS Trust, which runs the ward, said all patients were given a care plan, including phone numbers and access to a 24-hour call-out service.

Coun Amanda Robertson, ward member for Whitewell, said: "Patricia and other patients were left in a desperate situation when Ward 11 closed rather unexpectedly."

The first meeting will be held tonight at Bacup Leisure Hall, Burnley Road, Bacup from 6.30pm.

A second meeting is to be held on Thursday at Haslingden High School, Broadway, at 7pm.

Representatives from the health service organisations affected by the proposals have been invited to the meeting.

Trust bosses say Rossendale Hospital will get a new community mental health centre for outpatients later in the year.

However, patients needing overnight treatment will have to travel to Burnley.

Nobody was available to comment from the Lancashire Care NHS Trust.