Guisborough Maternity Hospital will not re-open until the summer at the very earliest - and may not re-open until long after that, it has emerged.

The news that a recruitment drive to employ 15 new midwives has only been partially successful was revealed at a public meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting at Laurence Jackson school was called by Redcar and Cleveland Council who used the opportunity to release the findings of its investigation into last November's temporary closure.

The investigation report stated that the facility, which South Tees NHS Trust has always stressed will eventually re-open when enough midwives are employed, should be re-opened as soon as possible.

But speaking at the meeting Fran Toller, head of midwifery at the Trust, said that although seven midwives have been recruited so far many need to be retrained over the coming months. It is hoped that another eight midwives may be employed when student midwives qualify in the summer.

Ms Toller said: "When we re-open the maternity unit, it must be done safely and we do not want to be in a position where we have to close it again. We hope to recruit more midwives in the summer, but we know that at least three midwives are planning to leave in the next 12 months."

Dozens of people from across Cleveland - including many pregnant women - attended the meeting at Laurence Jackson School.

One woman confronted Ms Toller. She said: "It might sound selfish but we are here to fight for our town, we need to know that Guisborough Maternity Unit won't be closed at the first sign of difficulty."

The council investigation involved talking to members of the public, the NHS Trust, midwives, GPs and Alan Milburn, health minister.

Vilma Collins, chairman of the investigation committee, said the committee had made a number of recommendations to the NHS Trust including:

* The establishment of better public consultation strategies

* Greater access to the NHS trust decision-making process

* An undertaking that new technology should not preclude personal communication with new mothers

* A study into transport difficulties from east Cleveland to the Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital Maternity Unit

* An agreement that Guisborough Maternity Unit is used for more births.

The report concluded: "Most importantly the Guisborough Maternity Ward should be re-opened as soon as it is possible to provide a safe service from that location.