LIVES could be in danger because Minehead's £25.5 million state-of-the-art new hospital is not properly signposted, it was claimed this week.

Despite being open for over a year, there are still no official signs directly outside the hospital and only small directional signs dotted elsewhere in the town.

And that makes it one of the town's best kept secrets, according to residents who say people not familiar with the area find themselves literally at a loss trying to track down the facility.

Minehead hotelier and former district councillor Bryan Leaker said he often had elderly tourists staying at his guest house and some occasionally had to use the hospital's minor injuries unit.

But he claimed it was pot luck if they found it without asking local people for directions first.

"This has been going on for a year now and there are still signs in the town's Wellington Square pointing the way to the old hospital site in Blenheim Road, but no directions to the new hospital," said Mr Leaker.

"GPS systems still show the old hospital, there are no directions on the old site and I really fear a life could be lost in the time it would take someone to find the new hospital."

Mr Leaker said he had spoken to health chiefs but got nowhere in his battle to have basic signs put up outside the building.

"I know a resident in Blenheim Road who has been asked numerous times by people where the hospital is," he said.

"I personally believe it is scandalous that health bosses have been unable to put up a proper sign in a year - if anyone dies by the lack of action it will rest on them.

"They need to act now and that's a year too late."

But despite Mr Leaker's fears, the precise whereabouts of the hospital could well remain something of a mystery to visitors to the town.

Although there are some directional signs pointing the way, there appears to be a good reason why no signs have appeared at the entrance to the hospital site - the NHS does not own any of the land alongside the highway.

One side belongs to West Somerset Council and the other to Somerset County Council.

And neither is likely to be able to help solve the problem as the district council side needs to remain clear to allow access to a drainage ditch, while the other is deemed to be a visibility splay by the county authority and so must remain free of obstructions.

A spokesman for the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said "off-site" directional signs to the hospital had been put up on the east side of Minehead and on the seafront.

However, Somerset County Council's highways department believed no signs were needed from Seaward Way itself but had eventually allowed a small sign on a lamp post opposite the turning to the new hospital.

He said at the time NHS staff were trying to get signs put up for the facility, county council highways workers were under "very clear instructions" to reduce the number of signs alongside roads across the county.

He said the sign in Seaward Way had been designed to specifications set out by highways workers and confirmed that land at the front of the hospital's entrance was owned by the district council on the left and the county council on the right.

"These areas of land are deemed not suitable for the signage because the West Somerset land has a drainage ditch which was installed as part on the New Horizons planning consent.

"This has a requirement for a 12-metre drainage strip to allow access for maintenance for the ditch.

"The area beyond that is currently being marketed by West Somerset Council for housing and in order to meet the need to maintain the 'sterilised strip' for maintenance purposes, any signage would have to be placed so far back from the road that it would not be visible to anyone travelling along Seaward Way.

"On the opposite side of the hospital access the land is owned by Somerset County Council.

"Again, this is required to be kept clear from obstacles to avoid infringing with the 'visibility splay' on the junction."

The spokesman said the restrictions had been raised previously and NHS Somerset had now asked a firm of civil engineers to design a larger sign that could be attached to the lamppost opposite the Minehead Hospital site turning.

"However, this will still require the approval from the county highways department before it can be constructed and erected," he said.

"Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which is responsible for managing the new Minehead Hospital, is hopeful that the highways department will look favourably upon any attempt to improve signage to the new hospital."

A Somerset County Council spokesman said the new hospital was signed from all directions in line with a request from the NHS's own building consultants.

"According to our records, the county council does not own any land on the hospital side of Seaward Way other than a visibility strip which would not be suitable.

"We would add that the directional sign opposite the entrance is the maximum size that can be erected on a lighting column.

"If people feel an additional sign is needed, it should go on a dedicated pole and we would be happy to discuss that with the consulting engineers employed by the NHS," the spokesman said.