Worthing Hospital used an old van to transport

bodies when the mortuary became too full to cope.

Extra deaths caused by the biggest flu outbreak in a decade and the

holiday closure of nearby crematoria are being blamed for the crisis.

Twenty-three bodies were taken to

Worthing's sister hospital, Southlands, in Shoreham, in a G-registered refrigerated

Transit van which a member of staff claimed was normally used to transport old mattresses and broken equipment to a rubbish tip.

Worthing East and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton has condemned the Government for failing to prepare for the outbreak and make extra resources available.

He said: "Taking bodies away in lorries is obviously extremely worrying and distressing for relatives and it puts even more pressure on an already overworked staff.

"This could have been planned for. They said there was no epidemic. Well, there certainly is one in Worthing."

All 600 beds at

Worthing and Southlands hospitals are full. Daily admissions are running at 60 a day, double the normal rate for this time of year.

Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust spokesman Pam Lelliott said: "The vehicle used to move the bodies was

similar to any used by an undertaker.

"It was only a six-mile journey along the road and the bodies were taken in exactly the same way as a funeral director would transfer them."

She added: "The reason is that we had a high

number of deaths over

the holiday period. A lot of that was to do with the fact there has been a high incidence of flu.

"Sadly the crematoria were closed for quite a long period and there was no alternative.

"There was a bottleneck but all the bodies were in bags and treated with the utmost dignity, as would always be the case."

The bodies were moved on New Year's Day.

Trevor Richards, chief officer of the Worthing and District Community Health council, said: "Being taken away on a lorry is not very nice for people when it's a close relative.

"It's upsetting for people. They feel a loved one is being shunted around because of a problem with processing

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.