AN MP has criticised an increase in the number of people in Morecambe Bay waiting more than 12 months for an operation, claiming that behind each figure is a case of human suffering.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Collins said that more people were waiting longer than a year for surgery in May 2001 than in June 1997, when the Labour Government first came to power.

However, a hospitals boss said it was misleading to take one month's figure in isolation, and stressed that the underlying trend was downwards.

Mr Collins said that in June 1997, there were 101 people in the Morecambe Bay Health Authority area who had waited more than 12 months for surgery, while in May this year that figure was 183 - an increase of 82 people or 80 per cent.