A BISHOP Auckland doctor claimed yesterday that the state of her local hospital was a "disgrace", with porters running round with buckets to catch the water.

But Heather Smith told the party how after years of "empty promises" under the Tories, the new hospital was now being built under the Labour government.

Dr Smith said that a headline in the Express newspaper saying that the NHS was worse under Labour had made her "spitting mad".

And she got a rousing cheer from the conference delegates as she ripped the newspaper in two.