A LEADING Liberal Democrat has called on Gordon Birtwistle to resign from the Government in protest against the decision not to reinstate Burnley’s children’s ward.

Coun Darren Reynolds said the Burnley and Padiham MP should quit as parliamentary assistant to treasury secretary Danny Alexander.

The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley ordered a review on the decision to close Burnley General Hospital’s 15-bed Deerplay Ward and transfer it to an increased 51-bed unit at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

But the Independent Reconfiguration Panel advised him that the case was not suitable for a full review.

Coun Reynolds, Burnley’s health scrutiny watchdog, described the outcome as ‘a failure of democracy’.

He said: “The taxpayers of Burnley and Pendle, the voters, the patients, those who work in the service – they all want to see the children’s ward remain at Burnley.

“I think Burnley’s MP needs to ask the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to intervene and to resign from his position as a parliamentary private secretary to demonstrate that he means business.”

Mr Birtwistle said he thought Coun Reynolds was ‘upset’, but blaming the wrong Government.

He said it was Labour’s former Burnley MPs and county councillors who had failed to oppose the original 2006 proposals.

Mr Birtwistle said: “Nick Clegg and I and Andrew Lansley have looked at everything we could do to get this changed.

"Unfortunately the IRP have taken the view that it is too late.

“What resigning would achieve, I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, he labelled the suggestion made by ex-Burnley MP Peter Pike that he had been ‘leading people astray’ by suggesting the ward could be brought back as ‘an absolute outrage’.