Patients had to wrap themselves in blankets on the coldest night of the year when the heating failed at Ashford's William Harvey Hospital.

A patient staying on the Rotary Ward, home to the ear, nose and throat (ENT) team, said they have been sitting shivering in their beds for several days with no idea when the heating will be fixed.

The 68-year-old, who asked not to be named, described the “freezing” conditions patients and staff are being made to endure.

Speaking from the ward, the patient said: “It’s absolutely freezing in here. We’ve been given extra blankets but it’s not enough. Even the poor staff are shivering and they’re wearing top coats and woolly hats - it’s like something out of the Third World.

“I have to sleep sitting up because I can’t lie down so I’m having to constantly pull the covers up. The person in the next bed can sleep lying down and they’re still freezing.

“The cold doesn’t help when you’ve got a sore throat. I could be here another week or so as they haven’t found out what’s wrong with me yet.”

The patient said no temporary heaters had been brought into the ward and no one had been told when the heating was likely to be fixed.

A spokesman for East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said the problem was being dealt with.

He said: “I can confirm we have a heating problem on Rotary Ward. We have experienced some problems obtaining the spares needed due to the holiday season.

“The parts are on order and temporary heaters will be installed this afternoon (Tuesday). Patients have been offered additional blankets in the meantime.”

Ashford’s heating breakdown comes just days after a boiler failed in the Thomas Becket ward at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, run by the same trust, forcing patients suffering from kidney failure to undergo four-hour dialysis sessions while wrapped in duvets and blankets.

Sunday night was the coldest of the year so far in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to Met Office figures.