Barnsley Hospital will be be left 'open to infection' after it was announced up to 40 cleaners will go, disgruntled staff have warned.

The cuts are being made by Initial Cleaning, which has the contract for cleaning services at the hospital, in order to save £250,000 in annual costs.

Staff are worried the cuts will lead to an increase in infections including MRSA and C-Diff, putting patients' lives at risk.

One employee whose job is safe gave an interview for this week's Chronicle. She said: "It's already pandemonium and it's just going to get worse.

"We can't cope as it is and they're taking people off us and I think this is only the tip of the iceberg."

Bed washing, required before any patient is allocated a bed, and deep cleaning of rooms following an infection were already suffering, she said.

The hospital's facilities chief Lorraine Christopher said the hospital was having to transform how it worked to make savings while meeting the needs of patients. She said Initial was asked to do the same and proposed different shift patterns, a new structure, new electrical equipment and cleaning technology.

An Initial spokesman said 21 part-time roles were expected to be affected, out of 279.

More in this week's Town edition.