CAR park bosses have been told to move almost 40 disabled spaces at Blackburn's new super hospital - because they were put in the wrong place.

Consort, the private consortium which designed and paid for the £113 million hospital, has been told to carry out the work after criticism from disabled patients.

Complaints were made that the 38 spaces were too far from the hospital and some were on a raised elevation, making it "impossible" for wheelchair users to access.

Now part of the car park is be given over to disabled spaces which will be closer to the main entrance.

And bosses are also hoping to increase the number of disabled spaces.

The announcement comes just four months after the hospital opened its doors.

It is the second blunder by bosses over disabled car parking at the hospital.

In August the Lancashire Telegraph revealed disabled spaces had been almost halved. Some 34 spaces should have designated as mobility bays - and had to re-painted.

The latest move comes after lobbying from the Blackburn with Darwen Disabled Access Group.

Its chairman, Bob Simpson, said: "These are fundamental problems that should have been sorted at the design stage and not in rectification.

"If they spoke to disabled people before planning the car park they would have had some really useful advice to ensure these problems did not arise.

"Some of the spaces are on the top tier of the car park which is impossible to get up to in a wheelchair. We want it all in one area and that is the intention."

Mr Simpson said he was strongly opposed to the NHS picking up the bill instead of Consort.

A health boss said it was not known who would pay for the work.

Stephen Brookfield, dir-ector of finance, information and planning at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We don't yet know how much it will cost as it is only at the design stage. Discussions have not yet taken place around payment.

"We are examining ways of making access for disabled drivers as convenient and user-friendly as possible and to this end we are pursuing a scheme to provide a separate area for disabled users which means they don't need to go through the main barriers "As with any project there are teething difficulties and this is one of those issues. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but in this particular instance we have seen an opportunity to improve parking arrangements."