A stomach bug has forced a Devon hospital to close more than a quarter of its wards.

Managers at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital have closed 12 of the its 41 wards to new admissions in an effort to control the winter vomiting virus which is also affecting other hospitals in Devon and Cornwall.

A total of 210 patients and 183 staff at Derriford had been affected by the bug, according to figures released on Wednesday.

Symptoms of the illness, which lasts for 24 to 48 hours, are severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

Highly-contagious

All routine operations at Derriford have been suspended until the end of the week in a bid to contain the highly-contagious virus.

Dr Jim Greig, a consultant microbiologist at Derriford, asked patients' friends and relatives to limit visits to the hospital.

"We would ask people only to visit one clinical area when they come to the hospital, to reduce the number of people who visit at any one time, and not to bring in small children or vulnerable people on hospital visits."

New admissions

At Plymouth's Mount Gould Hospital, 19 patients and 24 staff have been struck with the illness. Two wards are now closed to new admissions.

At Torbay Hospital, 54 patients and 26 members of staff have been affected by the disease.

Non-urgent operations have been postponed and three wards remain closed at Torbay to stop the virus spreading.

One ward remains closed at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, where 15 patients and two members of staff have caught the virus.