The bombshell dropped at a meeting where officials from the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group - which now operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn - were grilled over their plans for its future.

Asked by a local councillor whether the new hospital would still be open by 2032, to replace the current 1970s building which needs thousands of props to support is failing planks, Lesley Dwer, chief executive of the hospitals group, said: "The current date is in 2033.

Prof Lesley Dwyer addresses the meeting in King's Lynn (Image: Chris Bishop)

"So it's not 2032, that's nothing to do with us," she added, without elaborating further when it came to who it might be to do with.

Prof Dwyer said the trust was "keeping a close eye on any timelines", before insisting the project was still "moving on" as work has started on the new multi-storey car park, which will free up the land needed for the £1.4bn rebuild.

North West Norfolk MP James Wild, who was at last night's meeting at the Duke's Head Hotel in King's Lynn, said afterwards: “The Labour government has already delayed the opening date of the new QEH from 2030 as........

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