An amnesty will be in force in January to allow people to return crutches to the hospital's accident and emergency(A&E) reception desk.

Each pair of crutches costs �11 and the A&E department issues an average of 15 pairs every week.

A hospital spokesman said most crutches are not returned, resulting in a �7,000 crutch bill every year.

A&E Modern Matron Steve Collins said: "If you have borrowed crutches from the department in the past year, please check your sheds or cupboards to see if they have been buried or forgotten about.