HEALTH chiefs were last night trying to discover the extent of Darlington Memorial Hospital's involvement in a scandal surrounding the use of the bones of dead babies.

Between 1955 and 1970, 3,400 bone samples were taken across the country from deceased children during autopsies, without their parent's permission.

They were analysed for nuclear contamination by the Medical Research Council and UK Atomic Energy Authority to gauge the effect of atomic weapons tests in the atmosphere and the resulting fall-out.

The scandal, uncovered by a television documentary in the mid-1990s, sparked an inquiry which provided recommendations for future medical research.

It has now emerged from records that the Memorial Hospital was involved in the tests.

About 180 samples were taken at hospitals in the North, with the aim of calculating levels of the radioactive isotope strontium-90 in the atmosphere.

The isotope, thought to have fallen in rain, acts like calcium and builds up in the bones of children.

Last night, Julie Oliver, a spokeswoman for the South Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, said it was trying to access monitoring reports published at the time of the tests.

She said: "We are trying to determine to what extent we are affected. Unfortunately, our records do not go back that far, as we are talking about such a long time ago.

"Guidelines are now in place to ensure that medical research is discussed with relatives and the relevant permission obtained."

Carolan Davidge, of the Medical Research Council, said many of its staff who had been involved had now passed on and it would also be difficult to trace samples taken to individuals.

A spokeswoman for the Darlington and Teesdale Community Health Council said it hoped that information would be made available by hospital chiefs for concerned relatives.