Kitty Thompson, 28, a second year trainee GP in Bristol, said: "The negotiations have reached a sticking point over working on Saturdays. That's the simple thing we need to negotiate. 

"The government think that working on a Saturday should be like working on a Tuesday, but we feel we work a lot of weekends and this is time we are losing out with our loved ones and we deserve to be paid a bit more. 

 "We are not trying to get a pay rise but if they are renegotiating the contract we want to be paid fairly for the work that we are doing." 

Brighton Green Party MP Caroline Lucas tweeted, external: "Solidarity & good luck to all the junior doctors striking today for a fair and safe contract #JuniorDoctorsStrike."

Sebastian Wallace, a junior doctor and the BMA's representative in Cornwall, said: "The contract the government is proposing would spread the existing workforce thinner over seven days and it does not acknowledge that there is already emergency cover in hospitals."

The scene outside the city's Royal Infirmary.

Image source, PA

There are another 25 protesters on picket line at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

Joe Harrison is the chief executive of Milton Keynes Hospital. 

He says his team are doing everything they can to minimise the impact of the strike on patients.

He told the BBC: "We think we can cope, however, we, like everybody else in the country, doesn't want this strike to continue, we want to make sure that our patients are treated and are safe. 

"And we hope that nationally we can get to a position where the contract is agreed and we can get on and move on from there."

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

Government sources are warning there is little time to left to resolve the doctor's dispute.

Sources say a deal will have to be done by the middle of February if talks are to succeed.

Otherwise it's understood the government will move to impose the new contracts on junior doctors which would take effect from this autumn. 

It's understood that Saturday working has become the key sticking point in the talks. 

A government source said: "There is only one substantive issue left on the table and it's Saturdays." 

Mr Hunt is insistent that most of Saturday (7am-5pm) should be treated as a normal working day for junior doctors. 

The BMA want recognition that Saturdays should not form part of their normal working hours and they should get some additional pay. 

Both sides seem unwilling to compromise on this issue. 

Sources close to Mr Hunt say he believes it is important that Saturdays should be considered a normal working day in order to meet the Conservative Party's manifesto to introduce a seven-day-a-week NHS. 

If doctors are paid more on Saturdays, it's claimed hospitals would be discouraged from employing more of them on the weekend - thereby perpetuating poorer standards of care over the weekend. 

Among the protesters in London today is Dr Jonathan Barnes.

He told the BBC: "Junior doctors are fighting the government on proposed contract reforms not just because the new contract will jeopardise patient safety and significantly impact on doctors' quality of life. 

"We are fighting to save the NHS. If the government is allowed to impose its proposed contract changes on junior doctors, a precedent will be set."

The two major NHS hospitals in Nottingham - the City Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre - say 27 operations have been cancelled as have 227 outpatient appointments.

At the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust - which includes King's Mill Hospital - seven operations and 92 appointments have been cancelled.

Chris Hopson is a chief executive within NHS.

Speaking at Queen's hospital in Romford, where staff are picketing, he said the government should look at imposing a settlement.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What we're saying is, four years later, three thousand operations being cancelled today, we can't carry on like this, we need to bring this to a conclusion. 

"If the BMA won't accept a fair and reasonable offer, then yes, it was legitimate and sensible for the secretary of state to consider imposition."