A hospital in Exeter has been forced to close some of its wards to new patients after an outbreak of a sickness and diarrhoea bug.

Routine surgery has also been postponed at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in Devon, to minimise risk to patients and ensure emergency surgeries remain unaffected.

The symptoms were first detected on Tuesday, forcing the closure of one ward.

But more people contracted the, as yet unknown, virus on Wednesday, which has prevented another four wards and the emergency medical unit from taking in new admissions.

Visitor restrictions

The hospital has also asked friends and relatives to limit the number of visits to the hospital as an additional way of controlling the spread of the bug.

Nick Fairclough, spokesman for the hospital, said patients would have to remain free of symptoms for at least 48 hours before the wards re-open.

He added: "Some 150 patients are in the affected wards but only 20 have the virus.

"They will have to remain asymptomatic for 48 hours before things return to normal which will probably be the beginning of next week."

Mr Fairclough said they are awaiting test results to identify the bug, which has symptoms matching the winter vomiting virus - or Norwalk virus - that affected hospitals in the West Country last month.

Almost 350 patients and staff at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth in Devon were affected by the bug, as well as patients at hospitals in Torbay and Truro.