JEREMY Corbyn promised a Labour government would suspend a controversial NHS shake-up many fear will strip key services from East Lancashire.

The opposition leader said the return of of a full Accident and Emergency Unit to Burnley General would be considered in a major review of health services.

Mr Corbyn made the pledges on a visit to East Lancashire which started with a tour of Rawtenstall’s Whittaker Museum and Art Gallery where he described his lunch as ‘excellent’ and the chips as ‘amazing’.

During the visit seven-year-old Isla McChesney asked him: “Excuse me, when are you going to be Prime Minister?”

Mr Corbyn replied: “Well, that depends on when we have an election. It’s a good question.”

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He also attended local Labour Party events and spoke to a public rally in Nelson’s Victoria Park.

In an interview with the Lancashire Telegraph, he was asked about the government’s proposed Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) which campaigners fear could take vital services from the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust.

Mr Corbyn said: “The first thing we would do is suspend the STP plans and look at them again. Most involve the loss of maternity and A and E departments.

“Most of the STP plans are actually driven by the desire the reduce money rather than improve services. We would look at that again with emergency funding to support the continuation of existing services.”

On the subject of re-opening Burnley’s A and E department, he said: “Let’s look at that within the context of suspending STPs.”

Mr Corbyn promised a Labour government would set up a regional investment bank to end the spending cuts which had hit the North-West, focussing on boosting rail and bus services especially rural routes.

He said one option would be joining the heritage East Lancashire Railway line into Rossendale to the main rail network to improve connections to Manchester.

On the Whitaker, where he joined a children’s activity group, Mr Corbyn said: “ I really like this place.What I liked was the sense of the community. It’s what museums should be so children grow up seeing museums as somewhere they go to normally not just somewhere odd and special.”

Mr Corbyn also criticised proposed closures of police station front counters across Lancashire.

He said: “There has to be face-to-face access otherwise they become more remote.”