Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has asked questions in the corridors of power about the state of NHS finances.

Mr Farron is demanding to know if health trusts across the country are in similar financial dire straights to those in Morecambe Bay, who announced last month they would have to make millions of pounds of savings to balance their books.

He hopes the Parliamentary question he submitted this week will reveal there is money in the NHS from trusts in surplus that could be redistributed and used to help dig struggling trusts out of their financial black holes.

"They (the Government) are being heavy handed with local trusts and blaming them for being incompetent. But if three out of four trusts across the country are in deficit they can't all be incompetent.

"This situation is not the fault of the people of South Lakeland and they should not be forced to bear the brunt of financial incompetence, whether it is local or national."

Last week, The Westmorland Gazette and Mr Farron joined forces to launch a petition urging the government to stop cuts to vital NHS services in Morecambe Bay, and to take into account the extra costs of providing healthcare in rural areas.

Since then the Gazette has received nearly 100 petition slips from readers.

This week, the board of Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust met to agree how to project manage the financial recovery that should get its budget back on track.

At the end of last month members agreed a series of savings measures, including closing up to 130 beds, and reviewing maternity services across Morecambe Bay, and the out-of-hours services at Westmorland General Hospital.

The board agreed to set up a financial strategy oversight group and a financial recovery project group to help in its cost-cutting drive.

After the meeting, head of finance Janet Higgs said the recovery plan was only just starting to come into force.

"However, there are some elements within the overall position which look like they are starting to improve but it's early days yet," she said.

"Dare I say there is a glimmer of hope?"

Meanwhile, the board of the Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust, which has announced cost-saving measures including the closure of two mental health wards at Kendal's Westmorland General Hospital, also met this week.

The board was told that initial feedback from a mid-year "financial health check" showed that plans to end the financial year in balance were still valid, but still included a "not insignificant degree of risk".

Kendal town councillors also voiced fears that the proposed closure of two mental health wards at Westmorland General Hospital could put the future of the hospital in jeopardy.