HOSPITALS in East Lancashire have an interesting backstory - and Pendle Community Hospital is no different.

The hospital was nearing completion in this 1991 picture, taken from the Lancashire Telegraph's archives.

It was established to replace the Reedyford Hospital which had been created by the conversion of a 19th century private house into a war memorial hospital in 1914.

Services from Reedyford Hospital were transferred to the newly-built hospital

There had been fears for the future of the hospital in 2012, with more than 8,000 people signing a petition to stop the 72-bed rehabilitation day centre at the hospital, in Leeds Road, Nelson from closing down.

Campaigners feared that closure of the unit would be swiftly followed by the end of the hospital’s remaining services, which include falls clinics and two wards for the long-term sick.

But they were relieved when health chiefs announced that funding was secured to keep the inpatient beds at the hospital.

The hospital remains open to this day and is managed by East Lancashire Hospitals Trust.