FINANCE chiefs at the Royal Bolton Hospital say the cash-strapped hospital is more than £1.2 million in the red.

Bosses claim the overspend has been caused by record numbers of patients visiting accident and emergency throughout December - with casualty being eight per cent busier than this time last year.

They are now in talks with the Bolton Primary Care Trust, which is in charge of the purse strings, to obtain more cash so the books can be balanced at the end of the financial year in April.

Finance director Colin Dunn said: "Unless we get some more help from the Trust, we will overspend this financial year.

"But if they give us half of the £1.27 million, then I think we could balance the books."

Plans to slash spending by closing 24 beds and axing 155 jobs were announced last April.

But because of the large numbers of patients since then, the beds have had to remain open, and a further 18 provided, to cope with the demand.

Despite the deficit, finance chiefs say they are on course to make the £7.5 million savings needed this year, and that services had not been affected.

Mr Dunn said: "To balance the books, we needed to save £7 million, and we will have saved £5 million by the end of the year. We are planning to borrow another £2 million from the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority.

"But the extra activity costs have gone up again and that is what's causing this overspend. We have made sure neither the quality, nor quantity of patient services has been affected."