The closure of two wards at Watford General Hospital led to angry scenes at a public meeting held by the hospital's trust on Wednesday.

The loss of around 80 beds is due to the West Hertfordshire NHS Trust overspending by £13 million last year.

As temperatures outside soared, frustrations inside the Public Involvement Forum at Redbourn Village Hall threatened to boil over.

The audience, which was mainly made up of health workers and local councillorss, expressed disbelief at the trust's financial mismanagement.

St Albans District Councillor Tony Swendell claimed the trust knew about the financial crisis in December last year, yet failed to put in any measures to halt the decline. He said: "The management teams of the Strategic Health Authority (SHA), the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the West Herts Trust all have big budgets to manage, but they are clearly not doing it properly.

"We are not being told what the truth is. These efficiency savings should have been put in place four or five years ago.

"Losing 80 beds in a big district is not acceptable and we should be asking these managers what their role is."

To combat the overspend the trust plans to also reduce the length of time a patient stays in hospital and the amount of GP referrals.

The trust's director of planning, Sarah Shaw, said: "Inefficiencies make people needlessly sit in beds. Without them we would not have a need for extra beds."