An internal major incident has been called off at east Kent hospitals as the level of patients starts returning to normal.

It comes after trust chiefs declared the major incident last week after an unprecedented level of patients put staff to the limit.

It was claimed patient safety might be put at risk after the number of patients on hospital wards at the QEQM in Margate, the Kent and Canterbury and the William Harvey at Ashford rose dramatically.

Now the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said it is returning closer to the normal level of demand.

A spokesman said: "I must be honest, it's still tight in the hospitals, but we're in a more comfortable position."

She said staff were being told to keep going, but the situation was returning more to normal.

Last week consultants were told to review all patients and staff were told to discharge any that could be safely allowed home.