Airedale Hospital is to go further into the red so it can continue to deliver emergency care for expectant mums.

Health bosses at Airedale NHS Trust have sanctioned the appointment of another consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology to bolster its current team of four doctors.

The Steeton trust says that without the extra appointment it risks losing all of its consultants in the speciality.

Trust chiefs say this would mean an end to its emergency childbirth team of obstetricians who carry out caesarian deliveries and administer epidurals, which in turn would lead to the trust "significantly redesigning" its services.

The appointment has been deemed necessary as the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology stipulates that doctors provide 40 hours of labour ward cover a week.

Airedale currently provides only 20 hours.

"They (the royal college) won't recognise junior training posts if trusts don't have 40 hours cover," said medical director Dr Paul Godwin. "Effectively, we wouldn't have any trainees in obstetrics and gynaecology so we couldn't provide the obstetrics service.

"Essentially, we have to jack it up to 40 hours, which we are planning to do by a variety of measures."

Although existing consultants would ideally like to see the team increased to six, Dr Godwin said that five consultants should be enough to deliver the service.

Director of planning and marketing, Doug Farrow added: "If we chose not to do this we would have a midwifery service without emergency obstetrics."

Finance director Janet Crouch said: "We have no choice about this and we shall just have to go further into debt."

She told the trust board the move would take a £100,000 chunk out of finances, which are currently £619,000 in the red.