PHIALS of blood are being carefully carried and tested by Sybil, Basil and Manuel - but this is no rogue episode of Fawlty Towers.

Rather, three new blood testing machines have been christened with the names of the well loved sit com characters at Warrington and Halton hospitals.

Sybil and Basil are based at Warrington. Each can carry out 2,400 blood tests an hour.

Manuel is slightly smaller and gets through 1,650 blood tests an hour at Halton Hospital.

Fortunately the machines do not live up to their namesakes. They are rigorously tested every day to make sure the tests are returning the right results.

They test blood samples for a massive range of ailments from kidney malfunction to anaemia.

The trio are supplemented by Rhubarb and Custard, machines that test for infections and hormone imbalances, like HIV or a thyroid problem.

Now Basil, Sybil, Rhubarb and Custard are linked by a new conveyor belt that sends the blood samples to each machine.

Every blood test takes around 35 minutes, and most doctors order around 10 tests per blood sample.

Previously the conveyor belt staff had to wait for each test to finish before moving the phial to the next machine.

Now a robotic arm takes a tiny sample from each tube of blood and sends it on its way.

Using the conveyor belt saves about half an hour per test on every blood sample.

The new equipment is being loaned from the manufacturer on a four year contract at a cost of around £50,000 a month.

The increasing amount of blood tests needed means that saving as much time as possible is important to make sure lists don't get backed up.

Two years ago the pathology department ran tests on about 7,000 samples a week.

Already this year they have had to run 8,000 a week on two occasions.

"The big advantage comes for outpatients and GP referrals. Everything we get in in the morning goes out the same day," said Steve John, biochemistry manager in the pathology department.

North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Warrington and Halton hospitals, is one of the first non-teaching hospital trusts in the country to get the new equipment.