MEDIA WATCH

It is the middle market tabloid's dream - a story combining the superbug and 'political correctness gone mad'.

The yarn which got The Express and the Daily Mail hot under the collar - so much so that it knocked the fall-out from the Dutch rejection of the EU constitution off the front pages - was University Hospitals of Leicester trust's decision to 'ban' bibles from bedside lockers.

They claim the trust had removed Gideon bibles from lockers for fear they could 'upset non-Christians and break diversity and equality rules'.

It is all proof, thunders the Mail, that 'the bible ban is the latest indication that Christianity in now regarded as offensive in left-wing and some official circles'.

As The Express puts it: 'Have the last vestiges of common sense drained out of this country?' To back up their complaint, who should they turn to for a sober viewpoint but Ann Widdecombe, the fiercely devout Tory ex-Home Office minister .

'When people are sick they very often turn to the bible, ' she stormed.

'The NHS trust would appear to be denying their Christian heritage.' And who is to blame?

Managers, of course. It was evil bureaucrats who have apparently claimed that, as well as causing possible offence to other religions, the holy books could help spread MRSA.

Medical experts quoted by the Mail said the risk of the bibles carrying the superbug were 'low' - and asked, if bibles are to be banned, what about library books?

A spokeswoman for the trust said: 'We are looking at safer storage of religious materials, but we want to accommodate all types of religious material.' While bibles may be removed from lockers, they would be available elsewhere.

'We are taking advice from our infection control teams - and our service equality panel - to see how we can best make religious material available, ' she said.