LAWYERS who represent the victims of mass murderer Harold Shipman are to act for campaigners seeking a public inquiry into disgraced surgeon Richard Neale.

Victims of the gynaecologist, formerly at Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, have rejected the Department of Health's offer of an NHS investigation behind closed doors.

Ann Alexander, a partner in the Manchester legal firm of Alexander Harris, said she believed the Neale scandal involved issues of national importance.

The Neale group had "a very strong case" for a public inquiry, she said.

The decision means that leading barrister Richard Lissack QC, who is representing the victims in the Shipman inquiry, will argue the case for a public inquiry into the Neale affair, when an application for a judicial review is heard at the High Court next February.

Mr Lissack has also represented the families in the Bristol Royal Infirmary baby scandal.

Graham Maloney, spokes-man for the Neale victims' group, said: "We are over the moon. It is great news."

The group, which represents more than 200 women, mostly from North Yorkshire and Cleveland, believe a public inquiry is needed to expose how a bungling surgeon was able to practise for so long, despite warnings from Canada about his ability.

Mr Neale, who worked as a consultant at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton between 1985 and 1995, was struck off the medical register in July 2000 after being found guilty of botching a string of operations