A WARD has been closed at Southampton General Hospital after patients were struck down with diarrhoea and vomiting.

Five patients from the G5 elderly care ward are being assessed after becoming ill but it is not yet known what the cause of the infection is.

The ward was shut to visitors today and new patients are not being admitted as a precautionary measure.

A spokesman said an infection control team was investigating but it is not known whether the norovirus was to blame.