A MOTHER today hit out at health bosses after her "suicidal" daughter was rescued from the roof of the mental health unit where she was being treated.

Barbara Mitchell says her 20-year-old daughter Leona, who has a history of depression, is suicidal and has no confidence in Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn, where she has been an in-patient since Tuesday last week.

She is thought to have climbed on to the roof via a front porch and her mother fears she will kill herself if security is not improved.

A spokesman for the East Lancashire Trust said today: "As far as we are aware, nothing like this has happened before. We will be reviewing safety and security of the building as a priority."

The incident happened at 6pm on Monday but Mrs Mitchell, whose daughter lives with her in Queen Street, Clayton-le-Moors, said she found out about it only when she rang the hospital to see how her daughter was.

"When I rang I was told she had just been brought down from the roof," she said.

Fire crews used an aerial platform ladder to get her down but despite pledges of increased security at the Pendle View Mental Health Unit, Mrs Mitchell said she was still concerned.

"She was under their care and not supposed to be allowed out of the ward. How the hell did she end up on the roof?

"I think it's disgusting. Somebody should be responsible. Don't they care about people? How would they feel if it was their daughter. They have let her down."

The mother-of-two said Leona's problems began when she was 16 and her weight plummeted to four stones after she became anorexic.

And she said Leona has made several attempts at suicide over several years.

"I think they should take her out of Queen's Park before she does something drastic," said Mrs Mitchell.

"I said she should be with people her own age but they haven't done anything. My eczema has broken out since last week when she was taken in. I can't sleep, eat or concentrate.

"I can't see any good way out of this. If she had had the right help years ago, it wouldn't have come to this. They have driven her to this."