A Bristol hospital has had to close seven wards to new patients due to a winter sickness bug.

Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) has stopped admitting patients to the wards in a bid to halt the spread of norovirus.

At Frenchay Hospital two wards and one bay have been closed due to the vomiting and diarrhoea bug and a ward has been closed at Southmead.

No wards are closed to new patients at Weston General.

Norovirus – the winter sickness bug – spreads rapidly, particularly in places where people are in close proximity, such as schools, nursing homes and hospitals. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, headaches and a temperature.

At University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHBristol), which runs the BRI, visiting has been restricted to one hour a day at its city centre sites during the outbreak. The other hospitals are asking people to stick to usual visiting hours and to stay away if they have suffered symptoms within 48 hours.