Luton and Dunstable Hospital asks people to avoid A&E due to flooding

A hospital has asked people to only attend its emergency department for life-threatening illnesses and injuries after it was affected by flooding.

Luton and Dunstable Hospital said people should contact the NHS on 111 or a GP for non-urgent health issues.

A spokesperson said it was affected by "severe rain and thunderstorms" at about 15:00 BST but that it was "fully operational" two hours later.

Some ambulances were diverted to other hospitals during that time period.

John Fitzmaurice, an associate director for integrated medicine at the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, told the BBC that rain water "spread across a number of departments" within A&E.

He said ambulances were diverted to hospitals in Milton Keynes and Bedford.

No patients who had already arrived were turned away and were instead warned they could face longer waits, Mr Fitzmaurice said.

"Thank you to the ambulance crews who helped repair and clean up the unit - everybody did an amazing job to help where they could and went above and beyond," he said.

Mr Fitzmaurice said staff tried to close off areas where water could cause electrical equipment to short circuit and he also thanked on-site GPs who "worked hard to see everyone as quickly as possible".

The trust has previously described the A&E at the hospital as one of the "busiest in the region".

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp on 0800 169 1830