Hospital managers have accepted the resignation of a former matron who wrote a letter threatening to send home Filipino nurses in disgrace.

Rosemary Cranna agreed to step down from the post of head of midwifery and children's services at Worthing Hospital following last year's furore.

She has been on leave for several months but yesterday the trust revealed she had quit.

Mrs Cranna sent the letter after hearing untrue rumours that the nurses had been shoplifting but it sparked outrage among other hospital staff.

Colleagues were so angry they wrote to Health Secretary Alan Milburn, the Commission for Racial Equality, the Institute of Race Relations, the NHS Executive and the Royal College of Nursing to complain.

Mrs Cranna later said: "It was a mistake to write the letter and I can only offer my sincere apologies to everyone concerned. It was written in haste as I departed to go on leave.

"I realise I may have lost the confidence and trust of my colleagues and have agreed to step down from the position as nurse executive director and matron."

Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust said Mrs Cranna had resigned to go to another job but could not say whether it was in the health service.

Meanwhile, the maternity unit is being run by Jean Plummer until a new head of department is appointed.

Last month, The Argus revealed that some midwives felt Worthing's maternity unit was in a state of crisis, forcing the Trust to unveil a 50-point action plan in a bid to shake-up a centre hit by low morale.

Staff accused the Trust of keeping them in the dark, saying: "We feel our service is at risk of being undermined. This can only mean a poor service for women."

But the Trust said that staff had been overwhelmingly supportive of the action plan, which was now being implemented.