HOSPITAL managers were forced into a U-turn after midwives threatened a walk-out when they were barred from attending the funeral of a colleague's son.

Friends of Burnley General Hospital midwife Susan Smith wanted to pay their respects to her son Luke, who was found dead in his bed last week aged just 21, at his funeral on Thursday.

But the midwives were left furious after managers at the hospital said that they could not have time off as in-house training had been pre-booked for the day and could not be cancelled.

It was only after the midwives threatened to boycott the training to attend the funeral and the Lancashire Telegraph became involved that hospital bosses changed their mind.

Luke's father, Roger, said he was "disgusted" by the original decision, which would have prevented some of his wife's closest friends from attending the funeral.

Mr Smith said: "These ladies had seen Luke when he was born and watched him grow up, so of course we were all furious when they were told they would have to miss the funeral.

"They were only supposed to be training so it wasn't a question of delivery room cover, but they still kept saying no. The midwives all said they would just walk out if they were forced into it, and work an extra hour at the end."

Luke, of Burnley Road, Reedley, was found dead by his father last Tuesday. It is thought that his death may be connected to a series of seizures he had suffered in the weeks before, but a post mortem examination failed to establish a cause.

His funeral will be held on Thursday afternoon at Holy Saviour Church, Nelson.

Mr Smith said that the family had received no cards, letters or phone calls from managers to offer their condolences.

He said: "It is supposed to be a caring profession but they have shown us no compassion at all.

"I'm glad they've changed their minds but nobody from the hospital had contacted us to talk about the ban. They obviously thought twice when the Telegraph got involved and they realised there might be some bad publicity.

"We should never have had to fight like this and we should have had a lot more support. We haven't had a single word of condolence from the hospital, other than from personal friends.

"We have so much to deal with at the moment that adding this kind of thing as well is agony.

"People keep telling us they can't believe how well we're coping but the truth is that we are not coping at all - we're just putting a brave face on and getting on with it."

A hospital spokesman said: "We would take the opportunity to pass on our condolences to the family and can confirm that arrangements have been made with the midwives concerned, to allow them to attend the funeral to support their colleague during this sad time.

"We were concerned at first that we would not be able to reschedule because the training had been pre-booked and it was very short notice to change it.

"The training is necessary for everyone and we couldn't allow anyone to miss it."