ENGLAND supporters were today given a World Cup health warning after it was revealed that celebrating fans are stretching casualty departments to breaking point.

And revellers preparing to cheer David Beckham and the team against Portugal today were told to stay away from the A and E departments in Blackburn and Burnley unless it is a genuine emergency.

The move came as it was revealed that the transfer of the A and E department at Blackburn Infirmary to the new super £113million super hospital at Queen's Park clashes with the World Cup Final on July 9.

Today it was warned the World Cup final weekend could be "total chaos" if England get to the final with the possibility a small minority could cause trouble or injure themselves with antics like climbing bus shelters to celebrate.

About 370 people are seen on an average Saturday in East Lancashire's A&E departments but this rocketed to 1,043 for England's first game of the tournament, a 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday June 10.

Many of the injuries were drink-related and staff were bracing themselves for today's 4pm quarter-final the team's second Saturday match.

Fans were told to be "sensible" and consider getting help elsewhere if they hurt themselves when drunk.

A spokeswoman for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Accident and emergency activity went up considerably the weekend England played Paraguay.

"That weekend the A&E department at Blackburn saw 585 patients while Burnley saw 458 patients. Many of the attendances were alcohol related.

"We are asking people to be sensible about alcohol consumption during World Cup celebrations and also to use accident and emergency services appropriately.

"It is a fact that many people arrive at A&E with common ailments and conditions which could be treated by their GP during their normal opening hours or by the GP out of hours service during evenings or weekends."

Rob Bellingham, the Trust's director of planning and IT, said: "We haven't had a busier day than that in the last few years."

All A&E patients must go to Queen's Park, in Haslingden Road, from 9am on Saturday July 8, the day before the final, with another influx of patients expected, particularly if England are still in the tournament.

Jackie Hadwen, who has led the three-year building project for the Trust, said: The dates for the transfer of services from Blackburn Royal Infirmary to the Royal Blackburn Hospital were planned in 2003 before the World Cup schedules for 2006 were known.

"Putting the date back would have meant holding the move during a school holiday period and bringing it forward wouldn't leave enough time to commission the building properly.

"In addition we will have very robust plans in place for additional cover and have accounted for this in all of our planning.

"We do ask though that the public use our A&E services sensibly to assist us over the move period."

Tom George, lead consultant for the move to the new A&E department, said: "We have staffed appropriately to ensure that we can continue to treat acutely ill and injured people.

"Obviously we don't want people with genuine emergency or health needs to be discouraged from attending A&E but we would like to ask people to use the service sensibly and appropriately."

Coun Gordon Birtwistle, leader of Burnley Council, said: "It will be total chaos if England get to the final."

He said that he hoped people would not celebrate by climbing bus shelters and lamp posts to celebrate. "It's anti-social behaviour and I hope we don't have too much of that, but we do have members of our population who will do things like that."

Coun Tony Humphrys, chairman of the health scrutiny board at Blackburn with Darwen, said: "It's going to be horrendous they are going to struggle to cope."

"You can bet your bottom dollar there will be fighting in the streets."

Police said they would be trying to reduce casualties by clamping down on alcohol related disorder and crimes - a key part of their Operation Summer Nights campaign.

Mike Cunningham, assistant chief constable, said: "Operation Summer Nights is about letting people know that it is all right to have a good time but not at the expense of others. Our message is drink sensibly."

Mr George urged people to call NHS Direct, a 24-hour information and advice service on 0845 4647.

People who need to see their GP outside of surgery hours should call 0845 226 2626, he said. When patients call the out-of-hours number an assessment is made as to the best course of action.