THE historic Blackburn Royal Infirmary building should be preserved and re-developed, claim campaigners.

The original section of the building in Infirmary Way, which will be sold off when services move from their current site to the new extension at Queen's Park Hospital, dates from 1858. It was paid for partly by donations from local people and relied heavily on public money to keep it running until as late as 1948.

Blackburn Civic Society believes the building should be sold off for re-development as it is, rather than as a site, and possibly turned into flats.

But, if the site is bulldozed and re-developed, they believe some of the ornate stonework, particularly around the large doorways, should be kept and built into the new extension to Queen's Park.

The £86 million scheme will see both hospitals merge under the title the Royal Blackburn Hospital by 2005.

Project managers have already promised to save the stained glass windows in The Circle and the memorial plaques and move them into the new building.

Society chairman Doug Chadwick said: "Hospital buildings are essentially functional buildings, they do become out-moded. We have to be fairly pragmatic about them. It is obviously going to be enormously beneficial to have the hospital all on one site. The value is, I believe, in the redevelopment as a structure. To convert the building to residential use would seem quite appropriate."

Mr Chadwick said a similar scheme had been carried out in Salford where an old hospital building had been turned into flat conversions.

"It will be very pleasing for the stained glass to be salvaged and moved up to the new building. They are nice features. We as a group have discussed the possibility of salvaging some of the stone features around principal doorways. It would be very appropriate to move something of significance from that building to the new one."

Project director Simon Neville said it was too early in the project to decide how the site would be sold off.

He said: "From the trust's point of view the value of the site is not really a big issue."