HEALTH managers are locked in a pay row with contractors after the £3million laundry at Blackburn's new super hospital broke down.

Health bosses believe the equipment failure could have been because of a design fault at the new laundry, which is housed in a new building at Queen's Park Hospital in Haslingden Road.

But they said there was now a debate over who was responsible for the problem.

The laundry, which can wash up to 240,000 items of linen each week, is now fully operational again.

Members of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust's finance panel were told there had been problems with the new laundry equipment after it opened in October.

Official Trust minutes said director of operations, John Dell, explained "there had been an equipment failure and there was a debate over the recharge."

Acting director of finance, Stephen Brookfield, added: "There was a potential issue regarding a design fault and in this case over who should pay and who was liable".

The minutes said formal correspondence had been issued.

The Trust declined to name what went wrong and which firm made the equipment when asked by the Evening Telegraph.

The laundry was built as part of a deal with a private consortium that will see a major £113million extension to the hospital open in July.

The new building will replace Blackburn Royal Infirmary, which will then close.

Angela Brown, director of corporate affairs at the Trust, said: "There were teething problems initially, as with all new developments, however, these have now been resolved."