The major incident declared at Colchester General Hospital will continue into this week.

Bosses at the Turner Road hospital announced the incident following a snap inspection by healthcare watchdog, the Care Quality Commission 11 days ago.

Inspectors raised concerns about a lack of available beds and a number of patient safety issues.

The situation is due to be reviewed by health chiefs.

About 40 non-emergency operations have been postponed since the incident was declared.

No day case surgeries have been cancelled.

The number of people going straight to A&E has approximately halved since the announcement, to about 125 per day.

However, the nearby walk-in centre, also in Turner Road, has seen a spike in the number of people coming through the doors.

A hospital spokesman said “The pressure on Colchester General Hospital has eased during the week, partly because many people have heeded the advice to use our A&E appropriately, for which we are grateful.

“We have also been able to reduce the number of non-emergency operations we have postponed, but the hospital still remains busy.”