Junior doctors in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire join four-day strike

Junior doctors are taking part in four-day strike action as part of a dispute over pay

Junior doctors across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have walked out as part of a four-day national strike.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for junior doctors to be given a 35% pay rise, to make up for years of below-inflation increases.

The government has said the union's pay demands were unreasonable.

Hospitals in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have urged people to only use Accident & Emergency departments if they have life-threatening illnesses or injuries.

The walkout by junior doctors, who represent 40% of the medical workforce, began at 07:00 BST on Tuesday.

When junior doctors last went on strike, between 13-15 March, some 175,000 outpatient appointments and operations had to be rescheduled.

Dr Chris Morris, who works in West Yorkshire, says junior doctors "feel forced" to take industrial action

On a picket line in Leeds, Dr Chris Morris, a West Yorkshire BMA representative, said the issue of pay was "leading our colleagues to either choose to leave the profession or choose to work abroad for better pay and conditions".

"[The pay rise] may seem like a big ask, but that's on the background of 15 years of real terms pay cuts."

Hospitals in Leeds and Sheffield warned patients that services were expected to be busy during the industrial action and urged people only to go to A&E with life-threatening illnesses or injuries.

Meanwhile, Dr Nick Scriven, a consultant in Yorkshire, said patients would experience disruption during and after the industrial action.

"We are looking after a full hospital and we are doing it on much less staff," he said.

"For example, wards that would have three or four consultants and five or six junior staff will now be working with just a consultant and some other people who are there to help us."

The "vast majority" of consultants supported the junior doctors' strike action, Dr Scriven said, but he added he was "really very sorry" for those patients who were affected by the walkout.

Chris Long, chief executive of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said the trust had taken steps to mitigate the impact of the strike.

"I have got more consultants coming in. In fact, a number have cancelled their own holidays and leave to make sure we are covered and I am really grateful for that," he told the BBC.

The British Medical Association is calling for junior doctors to get a 35% pay rise

Elisabeth Welsh, 69, from Barrow upon Humber, was due to have an operation on her spine at Castle Hill Hospital on Tuesday morning, but the procedure was cancelled on Thursday because of the strike - with no new date set.

Ms Welsh, who has spinal stenosis - a narrowing of the spinal canal - and who has waited around a year for the operation, said the condition "restricts more or less everything can do in life".

She told the BBC: "I respect their right to strike, but I feel they are being unreasonable asking for a 35% pay rise.

"I also feel the BMA are being extremely militant. I thought doctors took an oath and this action goes against the oath they take."

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he "deeply regretted" the strike action and the government was "working very hard to mitigate the impacts".

"The government has shown it is willing to listen and to engage in meaningful and constructive talks. My door is open," he said.

However, he added that a pay rise demand of 35% was "not reasonable".