STRICT hygiene procedures introduced at a Kent hospital after an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting have managed to stop the bug spreading.

Following several small outbreaks of the bug at Maidstone Hospital two weeks ago, which affected nine patients, managers brought in a series of hygiene rules to prevent the bug from spreading.

Visitors to wards were asked to wash their hands with alcohol gel dispensers both before and after visiting and were asked not to sit on patients' beds.

One ward had to be closed to new patients for a week to contain the bug, allow patients to recover and for the ward to be specially cleaned. It has now been re-opened.

Visitors were also restricted to visiting only one ward at a time.

A spokesman for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, said: "Thanks to the efforts of our staff, a ward has reopened to admissions and we managed to contain the virus. However, we will remain vigilant over the winter months."

At the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury, managers have had less success containing the virus, which has affected 80 per cent of wards.