A top health boss told a public meeting in Blackburn that he would be "amazed" if cash for the county's ambulance services was used elsewhere in the North West under merger plans.

Allan Murray, representing the Department of Health, said the county's top rated ambulance trust would not suffer under plans to amalgamate it with trusts from Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

The meeting, attended by 12 people, was part of a public consultation set to end on March 22.