A review has been launched to look at the possibility of two hospital trusts merging services by the year 2006.

Consultants have been recruited by Airedale NHS Trust and Bradford Hospitals Trust to investigate future changes in medicine which might force the two trusts to become one.

The review comes in the wake of recommendations for primary care trusts in Craven to be merged with Harrogate.

That proposal is now with the Government's Health secretary Alan Milburn, who is expected to make the final decision soon.

Bob Allen, Airedale NHS Trust chief executive said: "Neither Airedale nor Bradford trusts want to merge, but we shouldn't be blinkered as to what might change in the next five years. We owe it to local people and our staff to accept that and we have taken on outside consultants to seek opinions about what might change in the field of medicine over that time."

It would involve looking at recruitment issues and the potential for sharing clinical services.

He said the consultants were due to report back in December.

Airedale Community Health Council's chief officer, John Godward, said the committee was due to meet a representative of the consultants at the end of November.

"Our fear is that changes might result in a reduction in services by transferring some from Airedale to Bradford.

"That might seriously make access difficult for people living in Airedale district - especially people living in the Settle area," he said.

Keighley MP Ann Cryer, said she was opposed to any merger of Bradford and Airedale services.

"I would be worried that some services would be concentrated in Bradford. Services in Airedale could be seriously diminished," she said.

And Steve Fowler, chairman of the Airedale Hospital trade union committee, said he feared Airedale Hospital at Steeton, near Keighley, could become a satellite hospital in a large Bradford-based trust.

"We fear that services could be sucked out of Airedale into Bradford. We will fight tooth and nail to keep services in Airedale," he said.

Bradford Labour Councillor Ralph Berry, (Wibsey) chairman of Bradford Health Authority, said he could not envisage any situation where there would not be a fully equipped Airedale hospital.