Three Broomfield hospital anaesthetists present when nine-year-old Tony Clowes died following a blockage in an oxygen pipe are on indefinite sick leave.

They are suffering severe shock following the tragedy last month, it was revealed at a press conference on Wednesday.

The conference was called in the wake of a similar blockage at Basildon hospital which fortunately was not fatal to the patient.

Quizzed by the media as to whether the pipes could have been sabotaged, Det Supt Win Bernard replied that he was "keeping a complete open mind" as investigations would look at every possible avenue.

He commented: "You must appreciate we are in the early stages of the investigation and as such we are very limited as to what we can say."

He was joined at Essex Police HQ, Springfield, by Dan Cotgrove, HM Inspector of Health and Safety and Nigel Offen, head of Clinical Quality for Eastern Region NHS.

Mr Cotgrove said that the two incidents where the only ones he was aware of, but that hospitals were not obliged by law to report oxygen blockages to the Inspectorate.

Mr Offen denied that the Broomfield hospital anaesthetists had been suspended, but were given indefinite leave because of the "great deal of shock" they had suffered.

They were free to return when they wished, he added, and he was sure they would be coming back to Broomfield "fairly soon".

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.