AN undercover investigation claiming to reveal evidence of the hospital "superbug" MRSA at Worcestershire Royal will be screened tonight.

The hospital was one of six across the country targeted by a documentary team from ITV1's Tonight With Trevor McDonald.

The programme claims antibiotic-resistant bugs were found at all six of them, with three positive tests at the Royal.

Health bosses claim the tests were "seriously flawed" and dispute the show's conclusions.

How Clean Is Your Hospital? Tonight With Trevor McDonald was due to be shown earlier this month but was postponed. It will now be screened at 8pm on ITV1.

In Worcester, the undercover team is believed to have filmed dirt and a crack in the floor beneath the bed of a patient who had been treated for a year and had suffered three bouts of MRSA.

The reporters also claim to have spotted staff ignoring signs to use gel dispensers to clean their hands when entering and leaving the same ward.

However, Worcestershire health bosses "totally dispute" both the "methodology and results" of the tests.

Dr Chris Catchpole, leading the hospital's crackdown on infection, said the tests - on swabs from door handles and lift buttons - would not differentiate between MRSA and harmless bacteria.

He added that MRSA could be carried on skin and cause no ill-effect unless it enters the body via an open wound.

The other hospitals in the spotlight are St Mary's, in Paddington, London, St Helier, in Carshalton, Surrey, Milton Keynes General, the Derriford, in Plymouth and Oldchurch Hospital in Romford, Essex.

Earlier this month, Worcestershire Royal Hospital launched a hand hygiene campaign - urging patients, visitors and staff to wash their hands with bacteria-busting alcohol gel dispensers.