A top level meeting on restoring a fully fledged accident and emergency department to Burnley General Hospital will take place this afternoon at the Whitehall HQ of the Department of Health.

Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, will tell the Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, that pressure to re-open the A&E department - downgraded to an Urgent Care Centre two years ago - is irresistible and growing.

Speaking on the train to London this morning. the MP said: "I want a commitment to bring back A&E to Burnley. But if there are hesitations about this I would settle for an independent review with agreed terms of reference."

"The latest revelations in the Lancashire Telegraph about the density of ambulance cover provide yet more evidence that all is not well with they current set up."