RESTRICTED visiting hours at Basingstoke hospital are set to continue over Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

As reported in The Gazette, the visiting hours have been restricted at the hospital following bouts of sickness and diarrhoea.

Relatives can visit patients at the hospital, in Aldermaston Road, for one hour only, from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

The same restriction also applies to the Andover War Memorial Hospital and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospitals, said it was to restrict possible transmission and help prevent further cases.

No wards have been closed but people can help protect patients by not visiting within 48 hours of having symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting or flu-like illness.

For contact details of each ward visit www.hampshirehospitals.nhs.uk.

Hospital chiefs will make a decision about whether further restrictions are necessary on December 27.