Psychiatric nurses from Bristol looking to move to Australia are to be interviewed by a video- conferencing link.

A hospital in Sydney is looking to recruit 150 registered nurses.

An Irish recruitment consultancy put a call out for people in the city interested in relocating to Australia.

ICE Group received calls from Bristol nurses as a result of a story in the Post.

But the shortlisted applicants will not be flying out to Australia for the interviews, or to Galway, where the company is based.

Instead, they will head to a location near their homes in a couple of weeks' time to take part in an interview via a video-conferencing link with health bosses the other side of the world.

ICE Group managing director Margaret Cox said this was the first time the company had used such technology to conduct interviews.

She said: "The shortlisted applicants will go to a video-conferencing provider, sit in front of a camera and the people in Australia will do the same on the other side and they will talk to each other over the internet.

"This is the first time we have done video-conferencing.

"We have used telephone interviews before and now we are adding in the face-to-face element.

"We have been more innovative because it helps manage costs and the carbon footprint because people are not flying over to Europe to conduct interviews."

About 55 to 60 people are being interviewed for the jobs in the current round. The firm will continue looking for people to make up the remaining numbers and video-conferencing means interviews are not limited to a short time period when a representative from the New South Wales Department of Health can be in the country.

Applications can still be considered for the hospital, which provides specialised forensic mental health programs for adults and adolescents.

Patients will include those who have been, or are, at risk of being in contact with the criminal justice system.

The hospital includes care for patients requiring short-term intensive care right through to those who will call the hospital home for many years. To find out more call ICE Group on 0800 0964317.