Five men have been injured after a fellow patient attacked them at a hospital ward.

The men, aged from 18 to 82, suffered injuries to their faces after the assault by a fellow patient at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. One man in his 80s is in a serious condition.

Police helped staff restrain a sixth patient - a 61-year-old man, who is being detained at the hospital.

Police say the man used an implement in the attack - which took place just before 0130GMT on Tuesday.

The hospital's chief executive Diane Whittingham said the man was not a psychiatric patient.

'Impossible to predict'

Officials said he had attended the accident and emergency department suffering from a medical complaint.

Mrs Whittingham said: "We understand that the ward was very comfortable and quiet and there was no way this incident could have been predicted.

"We will be looking at security as part of our investigation and we will see if there are any lessons that need to be learned. We will be reviewing our procedures to test their adequacy."

At the time of the attack there were 22 patients on the ward, which was being used by orthopaedic patients and for those with medical conditions including the flu.

There were three staff, but two were dealing with a patient at the far end of the ward and another was with a patient in a bathroom.

The nurses were alerted by one of the victims and rang security.

Medical director Tony Milling said all the victims' injuries were serious but it was not thought they would require surgery.

Police guard

He said the attacker had now been placed in a side room on a different ward and was under police guard.

"He was being assessed by consultant physicians and his medical state gave no cause for concern.

"He was quiet, he'd settled in. He was admitted yesterday and he had a medical problem."

Helen Thomson, nursing director, said the nurses were trained to deal with violence and may have calmed the situation.

"Clearly the staff are extremely distressed by such an event and at the moment we are trying our best to support them as they go through a distressing incident.

"It's very frightening that this can happen in a hospital environment."

An inquiry is underway into the incident.