A PREVIEW of a £90m replacement hospital impressed MPs yesterday.

Hilary Armstrong, Giles Radice and Gerry Steinberg, the three MPs whose constituents will use the Durham hospital when it replaces Dryburn Hospital next year, were shown everything from the ten operating theatres to the 16 baby delivery suites.

After a tour of the 454-bed complex, which will be known as University Hospital North Durham, the MPs could hardly contain their pleasure.

Ms Armstrong, MP for North-West Durham, said: "I am delighted at the high quality of all I can see. People connected with the hospital have told me how good it is, and now I have seen for myself."

Giles Radice, MP for Chester-le-Street and North Durham, said: "I think the new Dryburn is an absolutely state-of-the-art hospital."

Durham City MP Gerry Steinburg said: "After many years of waiting, we now have a hospital that is probably one of the best in the country."

North Durham health trust chairman Kevin Early, who has formally accepted the building from the contractors, said he believed the new hospital would be "the best hospital in the North".

Despite earlier claims that the privately financed hospital will actually have fewer beds than the old one, acting chief executive Steven Mason said the new North Durham trust, including the £8m Shotley Bridge Hospital redevelopment, will actually have more beds