NHS chiefs have said a rise in the number of mental health patients waiting longer than 12 hours in A&E is down to 'increased' demand.

Lancashire Care Foundation Trust (LCFT), the county's main mental health organisation said A&E being used as a place of safety for people by the police and inefficiencies in the way services are delivered, have also contributed to the increase.

There have been 45 breaches of the 12-hour target waiting time at Royal Blackburn Hospital's emergency department for mental health patients between January 1 and March 14 this year, much higher than in previous years.

And the problem has got so bad that hospital trusts are to be told by NHS England that they cannot keep mental health patients who are waiting for a bed or assessment in their accident and emergency department.

A LCFT spokesman said: “At present we are experiencing significant patient flow issues and addressing this is our top priority.

“There are a number of factors contributing to the occurrence of 12 hour breaches. These include; increased demand in A&E and people being brought to a place of safety by the police, some inefficiencies in the way services are delivered and complexities in discharging and securing specialist provision for some service users, all of which impacts on our ability to support patients in a timely way. "