BLACKBURN Infirmary was hit by lightning industrial action as porters began a week-long strike.

And there was the threat of more chaos as kitchen staff and porters at Queen's Park Hospital planned to join the stoppage.

A hospital spokesman said a call for volunteer help may have been inevitable as the strike begun to bite.

The workers involved, all members of the National Union of Public Employees, mounted a picket line outside the infirmary.

Their action followed a rejection of the latest government pay offer of nine per cent plus £1 and a comparability study.

Neville Davis, the Preston-based area officer for NUPE warned that the action was only the start of a 'rolling programme' of disruption.

He said: "Our programme of action will involve the whole of our membership and will hit other areas in different hospitals."

Blackburn health district administrator Jack Armitage said that although the porters had withdrawn their services, it did not mean that the service had ceased.

He added: "We are formulating a plan to take account of any planned action tomorrow. The amount of notice given to us by the union officials seems to be very small and does not give much thought for the care of the patients."