WIRRAL’S Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology is “under threat” from plans to set up rival cancer services in Liverpool, the Government was told last night.

Ministers were urged to step into a growing row triggered by a proposal to carry out radiotherapy treatment at The Royal Liverpool Hospital.

Ben Chapman, the Wirral South MP, warned the proposal would inevitably drain resources and talented staff away from The Clatterbridge Centre.

And he argued it made no sense because Clatterbridge was already setting up a “satellite service” in Liverpool, just five miles from The Royal, at Aintree.

Mr Chapman said: “Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology is an immensely valuable institution and a source of pride to the local community, which I fear is under threat.

“Resources are finite and, in the current economic climate, in short supply. Overcapacity in Liverpool, across the two sites, would, it seems to me, inevitably lead to a reduction of services at CCO.

“It is a key local employer and a vital part of the local economy.”