INVERCLYDE Royal Hospital's local phone number has been closed by health board bosses without any warning.

Generations of people in the area have used the 633777 direct line to call and be directed to different wards and areas of the hospital.

Now the Greenock hospital has a new Glasgow-based 0141 area code instead.

A recorded message for anyone dialling says there is a new number.

Health campaigner Councillor Ciano Rebecchi hit out at the decision - and for hospital bosses failing to tell people.

He said: "That is a number that people in Inverclyde have used since the hospital opened - everyone knows 633777.

"I couldn't believe it when I called and I was told to hang up and redial a Glasgow number.

"Why would you just stop using a number and not tell anyone?

"But why are they even changing the number in the first place.

"Are they just trying to annoy people?

"The number is one everyone knows off by heart."

The new number for the hospital is 0141 314 9504.

As of yesterday, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had not even updated the number on their own website.

In recent years health board bosses have come under fire for the centralisation of services, with more and more patients having to go outside the area for treatment.

A working group, which Councillor Rebecchi is part of, has been established to monitor acute hospital services and changes.

Councillor Rebecchi added: "I think we just want answers about this.

"Our hospital means a lot to local people and we care about it."

In a statement, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde admitted they hadn't told anyone about the change.

Their spokesperson said: "Like many other health boards, NHS GGC has needed to change some telephone numbers recently.

"The reason is a technical one, but is a result of BT’s network shutting down.

"For a number of years, calls to the 01475 number have been forwarded in the background, giving a seamless service to the caller.

"This option was no longer available and we had no option but to make a change.

"There is a message on the old number, redirecting callers to the new number.

"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and will take steps to publicise this change as soon as possible."