More than 140 people have waited more than six months for treatment at Airedale Hospital, new figures reveal.

More people needing operations are being dealt with within six months at Bradford's St Luke's Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary than in Airedale General Hospital at Steeton.

Figures just released by the Department of Health reveal that 146 people have been waiting between six and eight months for treatment at Airedale.

They show the total number of patients waiting for routine operations on the hospital's waiting list stands at 1,911.

Airedale Primary Care Trust, which buys care for residents of its area, has 109 people on its books who have been waiting between six and eight months.

Its total waiting figure is 1,504.

In comparison only 39 people have waited between six and eight months for treatment at Bradford Teaching Hospitals - BRI and St Luke's - where there is a total list of 4,477.

And patients are treated quicker if they live in North Bradford Primary Care Trust area, rather than Airedale PCT.

Of the 1,250 on the North Bradford waiting list, just ten have waited between six and eight months.

At Bradford City PCT there are 1,230 on the list, 23 waiting between six and eight months, and for Bradford South and West PCT the figures stand at 1,631 and 27 respectively.

Doug Farrow, Airedale NHS Trust director of planning,said the number of patients waiting between six and eight months had been cut by two thirds since March last year.

"The figures for Airedale NHS Trust show a consistent reduction in the last 12 months in the amount of time patients have been waiting for admission for treatment," he added.

An Airedale PCT spokesman said at the end of February the trust was 16 cases ahead of the target agreed with the Strategic Health Authority for people waiting over six months.

They had until the end of the year to clear the long-term waiting list.

"A milestone of this is to reduce the number of patients waiting over six months for an operation by 80 per cent from March 2003 figures to March 2005 and Airedale PCT has exceeded this target," he said.

A Bradford Hospitals trust spokesman said the number of people waiting more than six months had fallen in 12 months.

"The teaching hospitals and the PCTs are determined to continue with this momentum," he said.

The aim was to have no-one waiting more than six months by the end of the year.

When asked to comment on the figures, the three Bradford PCTs refused a statement saying they could not comment during a general election campaign.