Health

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals have warned the public not to visit A&E unless it is an emergency in the wake of a fortnight of unprecedented levels of activity.

Icy conditions on the roads, coupled with the increased risk of an outbreak of the norovirus in the winter months have put increased strain on hospital staff.

Two cars crashed on Tuesday night (24), causing a three hour road closure.

A blue Volkswagen Polo was in collision with a blue Fiat Ulysse on Stanwell Moor Road near the Crooked Billet roundabout at 6.17pm.

Both drivers sustained minor injuries and were taken by ambulance to St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey.

The road was opened after 9pm.

Firefighters were called to a kitchen fire on Monday November 16
.
The small blaze started at around 7.30pm in Richmond Road after cooking went wrong.

The firemen, from Staines, were at the property for about an hour, but the kitchen only received minor smoke damage.

MP David Wilshire opened four refurbished wards at Ashford Hospital on Monday November 16.

The Spelthorne MP, who will stand down at the next general election following revelations he paid more than £100,000 in expenses to a fake company, officially re-opened wards Chaucer, Wordsworth, Dickens, and Fielding.

The £850,000 re-development made sure the wards were hygienic and arranged so men and women do not share accommodation.

Mr Wilshire, who would not answer questions on the expenses scandal, unveiled a commemorative plaque, and took a tour around the wards with Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals Trust chairman Aileen McLeish.

Ms McLeish said: "Mr Wilshire was impressed with the layout and look of the wards and with the work we have done to make sure men and women don't have to share their accommodation."

The victim of devastating fire in Stanwell earlier this month has died in hospital.

Maria Jones, 64, of Windermere Close, suffered burns to her arms and legs after she was dragged out alive from her house on Monday October 19 by two neighbours.

Mrs Jones passed away on Sunday October 25 in St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, and post mortem examination carried out at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford concluded she died from injuries sustained in the fire.

The cause of the fire, which occurred at 4am on the day and completely gutted the house, is no longer being treated as suspicious by police.

A police spokesman said: "Following a joint Surrey Police and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service investigation the cause of the fire at a residential address in Windermere Close, is believed to have been the result of an electrical fault."

Do you have a tribute you would like to leave in memory of Maria?

If so, please use the box underneath.

Two family houses were completely destroyed by a dangerous fire on Saturday September 10.

In the early hours of Saturday (11) at around 1.30pm, a bungalow in Ousley Road, Wraysbury, caught alight and spread to a neighbouring garage and detached property, completely destroying both of their roofs.

LIFE expectancy in the least affluent parts of Spelthorne are seven years less than in richer areas of the borough, according to a new report.

The 2009 Health Report on Spelthorne was published by the Department of Health-funded Association of Public Health Observatories, which documented the health statistics of Surrey's boroughs.

A man who turned 'disturbingly white' was taken to hospital on Thursday July 9.

The 45-year-old man almost collapsed at the junction of London Road and Fairfield Avenue in Staines at around 1.20pm.

A passing driver who witnessed a helicopter land in the middle of a wooded roundabout has praised the pilot's quick skills.

Chertsey resident Steven Blockley was passing over Staines Bridge on Monday June 22 when he was stuck in a police controlled traffic jam while Surrey Air Ambulance attended to crash victims.

A two-year-old who was playing on a bed without a mattress avoided further injury on Friday June 5.

Firefighters from Staines were called in the afternoon to The Sidings, in Staines, after the toddler fell through the the slats in the bed and got his leg stuck.

The firefighters released his leg and the boy suffered no further injury.