THESE are the ghostly pictures that will bring hope to community hospital campaigners in the New Forest.

More than a year after it "temporarily" closed amid a cash crisis, these pictures of the inside of the Fenwick Hospital show that it is being kept in good order.

It comes as fresh proposals on ways to reopen outpatient services have been submitted by campaigners.

The photographs were taken by Lyndhurst Parish Council chairman George Bisson during a recent visit to the hospital.

He said: "We were pleasantly surprise by what we found. It is being kept in very good condition.

"There were some concerns the hospital would be left to deteriorate as part of some wicked ploy to say it won't be worth saving."

The photographs will be shown at a Friends of Lyndhurst Surgery meeting tonight at Lyndhurst Park Hotel, at 7.30pm.

Chairman Sylvia Dibben said: "It looks like a ghost hospital, but the PCT (New Forest Primary Care Trust) are looking after the building.

"It looks like it's ready to reopen. We wanted to show people what it looks like because they were concerned they were allowing it to fall into disrepair."

In a U-turn last October, hospital bosses announced that none of the five community hospitals in the area would close.

It followed a Daily Echo-backed campaign, led by New Forest East MP Julian Lewis, in response to proposals to axe 20 beds at the Fenwick. A 40,000-signature petition was raised.

Meanwhile, the Fenwick League of Friends has submitted its own plans to the PCT and New Forest District Council.

Chairman George Dibben said they included a community input into the hospital which could be run on a non-profit basis, leased from the PCT.

"We are trying to involve a matron manager to help identify uses for the hospital," he said.

He added that the proposals at this stage were only for outpatient services, such as day care, dermatology and rheumatology, and that he was awaiting a response.

The PCT said that it would look at proposals for services at the hospital this summer.

Its finances are now in much better shape after a £12.1m deficit was wiped off the books by an end-of-year loan from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority.

In statement, the PCT said it was widely accepted that once the Fenwick was "relaunched" it would not be as before.

It said it would provide services that "best met local needs" and complemented those at Milford on Sea War Memorial Hospital and the new Lymington New Forest Hospital.

Deputy chief executive Yvonne Le Brun said: "Some exciting ideas are emerging and a timescale for implementing new services will become clearer once the plans are fully developed and costed."