HEALTH bosses have denied claims that more than half of the region's hospital accident and emergency wards are under threat.

According to a report compiled by the Conservative Party, eight out of the 14 A&E departments in the North-East face cuts or closure.

Guidance from the Department of Health calls for A&E departments to serve a minimum population of 450,000 patients, to justify closures in smaller catchment areas.

Although the Conservatives have not identified any of the eight wards in the region they believe to be under threat, the claims cast a long shadow over many of the North-East's smaller hospitals.

At Bishop Auckland General Hospital, built in 2005, several wards have already been closed and campaigners fear that the A&E department will be next.

At a public meeting in the town last month, John Saxby, the outgoing chief executive of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said that further cuts were "likely".

Last night, a spokesman for the Save Our Hospital group, set up to fight the closures, said: "I do fear for the future of A&E in Bishop Auckland.

"It seems that we now have too many hospitals and too few patients and, if that is the case, I ask what is the point in building these new hospitals?"

However, MP Helen Goodman insisted that she was unaware of any cuts at her local hospital, and spoke of the importance in keeping such wards open.

"Our trust has assured me that they have no plans to cut services at Bishop Auckland," she said. Moreover, it is vital that we retain a full range of health services in an area like Bishop Auckland, outside the big cities."

A spokesman for NHS North East said: "There are no current plans to close any of the existing A&E departments across the North-East Strategic Health Authority."

A Department of Health spokesman rejected the Conservative's claims, saying: "It is complete nonsense to suggest that half of all A&Es are marked for closure by the Department of Health. This is just wrong.

"Any decisions about the shape of A&E services are taken locally so that services reflect the needs of the local population.

"Where local health authorities believe that patients can be better served by changing the way services should be delivered, it is right that they make those changes, and they will consult locally on any proposals."

The Conservatives estimate that, in total, 92 out of the 204 A&E departments in the country could be affected, based on figures in a report circulated to NHS trusts in Surrey.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Access to Accident and Emergency services is a vital component of the quality of NHS services. The public know that not every A&E department can provide every emergency service."