King's Lynn Queen Elizabeth Hospital in A&E plea

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk, said it had been under significant pressure since Sunday

A hospital has urged people to avoid its A&E if possible after large numbers of patients, along with staff sickness, led to "extraordinary pressure".

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn has declared a "critical incident" after facing problems since Sunday.

The Norfolk hospital said despite the "challenging" situation, beds were still available.

The news comes as queues of ambulances were photographed outside the hospital on Monday afternoon.

Health trusts declare an Internal Critical Incident when facing "extraordinary pressure", according to the NHS.

'Working exceptionally hard'

Chief executive Jon Green said: "Due to the large numbers of seriously unwell patients arriving at the hospital along with significant levels of staff sickness, we have called an Internal Critical Incident.

"I would like to praise all of our frontline staff for their dedication and hard work in caring for our acutely unwell patients.

"During this time we are also working closely with partners across the healthcare system."

Mr Green said the hospital's priority was "patient safety and our staff are working exceptionally hard to maintain this at all times".

He added: "While we would not wish to deter anyone from seeking medical treatment, we would ask people to consider alternative options to A&E, such as consulting your local pharmacist, calling 111 or download our free Choose Well App."

Anita Hodgson, who took a photograph of the ambulance queue, told the BBC: "I walk my dog round there nearly every afternoon and that's the most I've ever seen there."

The hospital and the East of England Ambulance Service said it could not comment on the ambulance queues at this time.