The future of a Ryedale hospital is secure only 12 months after a Government report put closure on the agenda, a senior health chief has announced.

And Councillor Keith Orrell, who highlighted the threat last year, said he believed Malton Hospital was safe and that campaigners who fought to keep it open had won, for the time being.

Two years ago a North Yorkshire Health Authority review said maternity and surgical services should be axed. And last year a report by a leading surgeon to the then Health Secretary Frank Dobson recommended that Malton Hospital should be one of 500 small hospitals in the UK to close to make way for giant "super hospitals".

Gilly Collinson, of the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust, said over the last 12 months Malton Hospital had been given greater responsibility.

"There is no doubt that Malton Hospital's future is secure and any reports that it is not are just pure speculation," she said.

"The fact is that the hospital and each department is an important part of the healthcare process and the main hospital relies on it for support.

"Over the last year we have come to rely on the hospital more so than we did. There is a greater dependency on community hospitals like Malton Hospital.

"We rely heavily on Malton Hospital to provide respite care. When a person, especially someone elderly, has had an operation, perhaps at the main hospital in Scarborough, they need after care.

"This sort of care is provided at Malton Hospital and over the last year we have increased the number of patients being given respite care."

She said the hospital was increasingly being used for minor surgery.

"Instead of having to travel all the way to Scarborough Hospital, patients are being given surgery at Malton Hospital if it is possible to do that there and especially if it is perhaps closer to home for the patient."

Coun Keith Orrell, Ryedale's Lib-Dem parliamentary spokesman, said he believed any threats to Malton Hospital had passed for now. "There was a point last year when it seemed reports were coming out on a regular basis recommending either the closure of the hospital or the closure of some of its services," he said.

"The last scare was a year ago and we have not heard anything more about this from the Health Authority. I believe we have won. This is a victory for all those who stood against any plans for change.

"Whether the situation changes in the coming years remains to be seen, but I am confident the hospital is safe for the near future."