A HOSPITAL could close and be replaced on another site, health bosses have indicated.
A group set up to determine the future of the borough's NHS services is to study "potential development sites" for Rossendale Hospital.
The pledge which comes after the Rossendale's new development committee met for the first time goes against previous statements which said the Rawtenstall hospital would "probably" be built on the same site.
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is consulting on the future of all its services with major changes planned for hospitals in Blackburn and Burnley.
Proposals include "a new build for Rossendale, probably on the existing site", people have been told in a document delivered to homes in East Lancashire.
Stuart Haines of Rossendale Hospital Group, set up to fight for services for the borough said: "The present site is not easy to get to.
"They are redeveloping the town centre so it would make sense to put a new hospital near there.
"What we can't do is just dump it somewhere."
The group next meets in July.
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