A SPECIAL meeting of the Burnley Health Care Trust board will be held at the end of next month to discuss serious overspending.

Board members were told yesterday that hospital budgets had plunged £600,000 into the red after only three months of the financial year and that the situation was not sustainable.

They were told of a number of reasons for the cash crisis, ranging from the higher than anticipated cost of chemotherapy treatment to a big increase in advertising charges for the recruitment of doctors and nurses from overseas.

There was also the cost of getting things in readiness for winter pressures, money for which would not be recouped until later. Chief executive David Chew commented: "I am not going round the trust beating up managers.

" I think they are performing well and I am hoping we will see a big change in the financial situation by September."

Deputy director of finance Steven Thompson said the increased overspending was of great concern and a full review was being undertaken.

It was partly due to them using more agency nurses to fill shifts.

The cost of advertising for staff, including doctors and nurses from abroad, was high. They had already spent well over half their annual budget of £70,000.