FIVE thousand people have signed a petition calling for more beds in Durham's new main hospital.

The signatures, collected by the city's Liberal Democrat party, have been sent to Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

The £97m University Hospital of North Durham, which replaced Dryburn last year, has been embroiled in controversy since it opened.

It was built by a consortium of companies under the private finance initiative (PFI), which critics say will cost the taxpayer more in the long run than if the Government had provided the capital.

Opponents also claim that beds are lost under PFI because schemes end up being tailored to the profit requirement of big companies rather than the public's needs.

The new hospital has fewer beds than its predecessor and plans have been drawn up for a merger between the North and South Durham health trusts to tackle "under capacity''.

Liberal Democrats chairwoman Carol Woods said that the petition would continue to run.

"As we receive more signatures we will continue to send them to Alan Milburn until we get more beds," she said.

"The number of beds in the North Durham trust has been halved in the past ten years and the cuts have obviously gone too far."

Ms Woods added: "The proposed merger of the North and South Durham health trusts will not solve the lack of capacity in Durham.''

Ms Woods said those who had signed the petition believed hospital staff were doing a "great job in difficult circumstances".

"The lack of beds has resulted in a poorer service for the people of Durham and increased suffering for those who have had operations cancelled and postponed," she said.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: "We acknowledge that capacity in the hospital is an issue.

"But we are participating in a national capacity exercise and we should be in a position to comment on this further in November.''

North Durham Community Health Council has already called for more beds at the hospital.

If the Government approves the merger of the trusts, the University Hospital and the hospitals in Bishop Auckland and Darlington would each specialise in offering particular services for the county as a whole.