HEALTH bosses say at least one major North-East hospital should eventually close as part of a shake-up of services.

The news that all parties in the Tees Services Review Steering Group appear to share the view that there should be two rather than three acute hospitals on Teesside will fuel fears in Hartlepool, Teesside.

Thousands of people have already signed a petition opposing the closure of the University Hospital of Hartlepool, even though no firm proposal exists.

The petition was launched this summer after it emerged that having one hospital site for North Tees, rather than two was being considered.

While NHS managers have assured campaigners that the Hartlepool hospital will remain open for at least another seven years the agreement will stir up concerns.

The report includes the statement: "There should eventually be two acute hospitals on Teesside - one north of the Tees and James Cook University Hospital, south of the Tees."

A spokesman for the Tees Services Review Steering Group, which includes all the NHS organisations and local authorities in the Tees Valley, stressed that while broad agreement had been reached "the report does not constitute a set of proposals."

The report will be discussed by all the parties involved in the review at a special meeting tomorrow, together with invited members of the public who have responded to a leafleting campaign across the areas affected.

It is also due to be discussed at the headquarters of County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority on Tuesday, November 18.

The Strategic Health Authority has three options: keeping services as they are, reorganising services so one hospital focuses on emergencies and another on planned care and a single site providing all care.