The NHS Foundation Trust hospital is staying on high alert for the highly contagious and very unpleasant norovirus which can cause
nausea, projectile vomiting and diarrhoea accompanied by a mild fever, headaches, stomach cramps or aching limbs.

People seeking to visit friends or relatives in hospital and suffering any of the symptoms or feeling unwell are being asked not to.

Angie Legate, Assistant Director of Infection Prevention and Control said: "The norovirus does not discriminate by season.

"Safety is our top priority and it's very important that people who have had the virus or been in close contact with someone who has had it to take precautions to avoid spreading it.

"People should refrain from visiting the hospital or nursing homes of they have had the bug over the past three days," she said.

All visitors should wash their hands with warm water and soap and use alcohol foam rub available.

Ms Legate also stressed that norovirus was not an exclusively health service problem. It can spread quickly where people are present in large numbers.

The virus can be spread through contact with an infected person, through contact with surfaces or objects that are contaminated or by consuming contaminated food or water.