The trust said �19m is being invested into Crawley Hospital

Former trust non-executive director Robin Eve made the claims in a BBC interview on Friday. He said hospital closure had always been on the agenda.

Last month non-urgent surgery was moved from Crawley to other hospitals as a savings measure. The trust blamed high agency fees and recruitment problems.

On Friday the trust said �19m was being put into Crawley to improve services.

Gary Walker, chief executive of the Surrey & Sussex NHS Trust said: "There are no plans to close Crawley Hospital.

"The hospital is in the middle of a �19m investment programme that is improving the range of services provided as well as the environment they are provided from."

'Financial failure'

Earlier, Mr Eve told BBC Southern Counties Radio the trust was facing two options - either to close wards and the emergency department at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill or to close Crawley Hospital.

"No organisation can survive making losses of that nature," Mr Eve said.

He also claimed non-executive directors had left the board because the trust wanted "a clean sheet".

A health authority statement said: "Each NHS Board has a statutory duty to set and deliver a balanced budget and must therefore be responsible for making difficult decisions to achieve this."

It also said four non-executive directors at the trust had either resigned or left after a public interest report "set out the extent of the trust's failure in its financial duty and expressed a need to reinvigorate the board".