Patients are being told not to attend two emergency departments at present unless they have very serious conditions.

The warning comes from East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

In a tweet just before 3pm it said: "Our emergency departments are extremely busy at the moment.

"Please only attend in an emergency, or if your injury or illness is life-threatening.

"If you need urgent but not emergency medical care and are unsure where to go, contact NHS 111 who can signpost you to local services. "

The trust's hospitals emergency departments are the William Harvey in Ashford and the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in Margate.

They would continue to treat people with conditions such as severe chest pains, serious head injuries, loss of consciousness or breathing difficulties.

A trust spokesman added that people attending an emergency with less urgent conditions may face a very long wait to be seen.

They added that those with an urgent but not emergency condition can attend an urgent treatment centre such as the one at Kent and Canterbury Hospital which is open 24 hours a day.

Such places can deal with suspected broken bones, dislocations, sprains, minor burns and a range of illnesses.

East Kent's other urgent treatment centres, which shut at 8pm, are Buckland Hospital, Dover; the Royal Victoria in Folkestone; Victoria Hospital, Deal; Estuary View Medical Centre, Whitstable, and Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Herne Bay.

If A&E demand rises to a point where hospitals deem patient safety is at risk, they can declare a critical incident.

Medway hospital was forced to implement this measure in December, where some non-urgent operations and outpatient appointments were rescheduled.

However, this has not been put in place at Ashford or QEQM this time round.

You can find out the waiting times at any of the county’s minor injury units or urgent treatment centres by downloading the WaitLess app to your phone.

The app is available from the iPhone and Google play stores.