PATIENTS were left in the cold at Royal Blackburn Hospital after heating failed in a ‘handful of wards’.

Hospital bosses confirmed that a leak in one of the plant rooms, at the Haslingden Road site, caused central heating to fail.

And during another night of sub-zero temperatures outside the hospital, patients were forced to wrap up inside.

The Lancashire Telegraph spoke to a 42-year-old Accrington man, who only wished to be named Steve, at around 9.30pm on Tuesday.

He said he had been in ward C8 for four days, after being admitted with breathing problems.

Steve said: “It’s freezing. When I say cold, it’s warmer outside than it is in here.

“I said ‘why is it so cold?’ and a nurse said ‘the boiler has packed up. We’ve been trying to fix it’.

“I’m right by a radiator and it’s been off for hours.

“We’ve all been asking for blankets. Some of us have four blankets on to keep warm.”

Jonathan Wood, director of finance, capital and estates at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said the problem was res-olved within two hours.

Mr Wood said: “A leak was identified in one of the hospital’s plant rooms, meaning that heating to a handful of wards had to be turned off for approximately two hours while the problem was repaired.

“The maintenance team worked closely with wards to ensure temporary heaters were put in place during this time.”

The hospital was unable to confirm what had caused the leak, and which wards were affected.