A MAN who lost his leg to MRSA was put in a home full of pensioners vulnerable to the disease while he was still infected.

Norman Turner, a former hospital cleaning supervisor from Darwen, said that hospital bosses released him before tests which revealed he still had the killer bug were carried out.

Despite swabs being taken on January 27 it was seven weeks before he was told he still carried MRSA, although hospital bosses deny the delay was their fault.

They said that carrying MRSA was not a reason to prevent a patient being discharged but that it "would normally treat any MRSA infection in hospital."

It said it had followed the correct procedures and where a patient was being discharged to convalesce, staff would be informed so that they could take necessary hygiene precautions.

But a pensioners' spokesman said MRSA could have been transferred to the elderly who Mr Turner had been in contact with. And Lancashire Evening Telegraph health expert, Dr Tom Smith warned: "MRSA is an opportunistic infection and those who are vulnerable to it are the elderly, those who are ill and have a weakened immune system or those with any open wound."

Mr Turner, 42, of Ferrier Court, said he still had open wounds and feared for the health of other residents at White Ash Brook nursing home, Thwaites Road, Oswaldtwistle.

Mr Turner, a-father-of-two, said: "Not only have I had to try to come to terms with the fact that I have lost my leg and nearly lost my life to MRSA but I have had to wait over two months to find out that I still have it. I am living next door to people who are 90-years-old and I could pass MRSA on to them."

Mr Turner was admitted to Blackburn Royal Infirmary on August 20 for an operation to replace an artery with an artificial one, a condition that had forced him to give up his job at the hospital.

During his recovery he became seriously ill and slipped into a coma. Doctors saved his life by amputating his left leg, which was infected with MRSA.

After receiving his test results last week, Mr Turner said a GP visited him at home and gave him some cream to fight the superbug.

He added: "If it is important for me to be using this cream to fight the infection then I should have been using it from when I was discharged from hospital.

"The Trust say that MRSA is rife in the community but it is no wonder if people like me who are infected with it keep being discharged into it."

MRSA can be transferred through skin to skin contact and when a person comes into contact with objects that have been colonised with MRSA. It is also thought it may be transfered when it becomes airborne.

MP for Darwen and Rossendale Janet Anderson, has vowed to take up the case. She said: "I am happy to approach the relevant authorities to seek urgent answers."

Lynn Wissett, director of clinical care and governance at the Trust, said it had received an official complaint from Mr Turner and said: "A full, written response addressing his concerns will be sent to him."

National Pensioner's Convention spokesman Neil Duncan-Jordan said: "Mr Turner should have stayed in hospital until such a time that it was proven he was clear of MRSA."

White Ash Brook nursing home and Mr Turner's GP declined to comment.