HEALTH expert Professor Ara Darzi could have been forgiven for expecting a hostile reception at yesterday's extraordinary meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council.

After all, the leading surgeon was brought in by Health Secretary John Reid to advise on a highly controversial review of health services on Teesside, which could lead to the closure of the the town's hospital.

But apart from a fierce broadside from Easington MP John Cummings - which drew cheers from the public gallery - the Imperial College health expert was given a relatively easy ride at Hartlepool Civic Centre.

The council even passed a unanimous motion thanking Prof Darzi for attending the meeting.

But the same motion also drew attention to the gap between the commitments to defend Hartlepool hospital, given by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Health Secretary John Reid in the run-up to the recent Hartlepool by-election, and the terms of reference given to Prof Darzi by local health chiefs.

The County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority has said it will do all it can to maintain safe and sustainable services in Hartlepool but it will not rule out closure.

Until Prof Darzi arrived, the favoured option was to close the university hospitals of Hartlepool and North Tees, in Stockton, and build a single-site hospital north of the Tees.

The motion said: "It regrets that the terms of reference given to him by the Strategic Health Authority do not fully and accurately reflect the commitments given by the Secretary of State for Health and the Prime Minister that hospital services in Hartlepool would not be down graded as a result of his review.

"It therefore calls on the Health Authority and Department of Health to revise these terms of reference in line with the statement . . . so that hospital services in the town can be both maintained and improved , on the current site, within the shortest possible time."

During the meeting Prof Darzi offered a glimmer of hope to hospital campaigners when he said it was possible that the review could allow some services to be restored to Hartlepool

He said: "There is a possibility that some of those services could be re-instated depending on what they are and how they fit in within the context of the review."

Earlier, Easington MP John Cummings warned that Hartlepool hospital faced a "death of a thousand cuts" unless patients' needs were put first.