A TEAM of blood experts, under threat because of hospital cuts, has earned a reprieve from bosses.

The phlebotomists section, which works across a range of medical disciplines at both the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals, faced the axe as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Phlebotomists take blood from patients and transport it to hospital pathology depart-ments, so doctors can get a clearer picture of what indivi-duals may be suffering from.

But East Lancashire NHS Hospital Trust leaders have decided the blood specialists service is vital to the hospitals' clinical reputation and withdrawn the proposals.

An East Lancashire trust spokesman said: "Along with a wide range of other services, the phlebotomy service was on a list of areas to investigate whether there were potential financial savings that could be made to contribute to delivering our financial recovery plan.

"The review concluded that East Lancashire phlebotomy services are fundamental to maintaining high levels of clinical activity and the flow' of patients through our hospitals.

"It was agreed that this was not a service where there was a case for any reduction in the service currently provided by our excellent phlebotomy staff, and there are no plans to reduce the current level of service."

Work is now underway to examine whether the phlebo-tomy service can be expanded for the Blackburn and Burnley sites.

Axeing the service would have saved £95,000 annually for the trust, the Telegraph reported last September.

The hospital trust's savings target for 2006/07, which was eventually achieved last month, stood at £11.6million.