Four wards were today closed at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital after an outbreak of a winter sickness bug.

Hospital bosses at the Wednesfield site say they have shut wards to admissions as a result of the spread of the highly contagious Norovirus bug. 

A total of 17 patients have been struck down, leading to today’s action, which affects around 80 beds.

Today health chiefs at the site made a plea for visitors who have been suffering from the two main symptoms of the infection, sickness or diarrhoea, within the last 48 hours to stay away from the site. 

Royal Wolverhampton NHS Hospitals Trust Chief Executive David Loughton said: “We are running these wards down, as we do we will be carrying out a deep clean on the bays. We would also ask people who have been suffering from symptoms in the last 48 hours not to visit the hospital.”

He said no operations have been cancelled at New Cross as a result of the outbreak and staff have also avoided being struck down.

The wards affected at New Cross are D6, D16, D18 and D19. They are all being deep cleaned which will include scrubbing behind radiators and cleaning air vents. 

Until this current outbreak New Cross was one of the only hospitals in the Midlands to escape the spread of the infection.

Officials at the Health Protection Agency said cases of the bug were dropping across the West Midlands but say there are still pockets. such as in Wolverhampton. where it is causing problems.