Royal Blackburn Hospital building company probe

12:45pm Friday 18th April 2008

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By Tom Moseley »

THE construction firm which built East Lancashire's £113million super-hospital is being investigated following allegations of contract rigging.

Balfour Beatty is one of 112 firms named by the Office of Fair Trading as part of an investigation into 'uncompetitive practices'.

It is claimed firms worked together in bidding for contracts, resulting in higher prices for projects including hospitals and schools.

A spokesman for the office said he could not reveal details of the projects invest-igated because of the Competition Act.

Royal Blackburn Hospital, which opened last summer, was built by Balfour Beatty through a Private Finance Initiative, a partnership between the NHS and priv-ate companies that spreads the cost of the scheme over a number of years.

The hospital said questions about the OFT's report would be handled through Balfour Beatty.

A statement from the firm, which recently knocked down Lord Square in Blackburn but was not given the contract to build the replacement £66million shopping centre, said the firm had carried out a full review into its compliance with the Competition Act, and had co-operated fully with the OFT's investigation.

It added: "Balfour Beatty neither promotes nor condones anti-competitive behaviour."