Up to 1,000 staff face redundancy at the hospitals

The University Hospital of North Staffordshire wants to sell its Royal Infirmary and Central Outpatients buildings to the government.

They would still be used until replaced but the trust would receive about �18m.

It would use the cash to save jobs. But current Department of Health rules say cash from the sale of buildings cannot be used to pay for staff.

The trust and Labour's Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Mark Fisher are to lobby the government to try to get the rules relaxed.

Up to 1,000 jobs will have to go to tackle �15m debts the trust has said.

If a deal can be reached the 250 staff would be trained for when some services move into the community in two years.

It would avoid the possibility that the trust would have to re-employ people who have been made redundant.