AIREDALE Hospital has come out tops in a national survey of quality maternity services.

Many mums from the Colne and West Craven areas of Pendle opt to book a berth for their baby's birth at the hospital near Keighley.

Now their faith in the standard of services provided has been underlined in a Good Birth Guide published by the Sunday Times.

Airedale General came top in the Northern and Yorkshire region, in recognition of the high quality of maternity services provided.

The report compiled by Dr Foster, an independent organisation tat provides authoritative information on standards of health care provision, gave a comprehensive picture of the variation in maternity services offered across the country.

Airedale chief executive Robert Allen said: "While the Trust is extremely pleased with this accolade, the philosophy of staff within Airedale's maternity unit has always been to provide a high standard of care to local women and they have worked hard to do so."