Hospital in plea over illnesses

Health chiefs in Shropshire have urged people to take measures to avoid spreading illnesses after its two main hospitals were inundated with patients.

At one point on Monday, 13 ambulances queued outside the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to drop off patients, officials said.

They said many people were being admitted there and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital with norovirus and flu.

Elderly patients were being transferred to nursing homes or other hospitals.

Hospital officials said they were being moved a day or so early to help free up beds on their wards.

The county's two primary care trusts urged parents not to send their children to school if they were sick to avoid spreading bugs.

People who were feeling unwell were also asked not to visit friends and relatives in hospital.