TWO wards have been shut at Colchester General Hospital due to an outbreak of norovirus.

Tiptree and Peldon wards, where elderly patients are cared for, have been closed to new admissions along with one bay of the contingency ward, Easthorpe.

Heather Dakin, senior infection control nurse, said there were currently about a dozen patients with symptoms.

They will continue to be cared for in the usual way with extra precautions being taken to ensure the virus is not passed from patient to patient.

Mrs Dakin appealed for anyone who has had diarrhoea or vomiting within the last 48 hours to stay away from hospital so the illness is not imported to other patients.