Striking nurses have been called off the picket lines in Norfolk amid safety concerns in some hospital departments.

Across the bank holiday weekend, members of the Royal College of Nursing have been striking from some of the region's health trusts amid a pay row with the government.

The strikes, which began at 8pm on Sunday, April 30, are planned to continue throughout the bank holiday Monday.

However, concerns over whether some departments will be able to operate safely without striking nurses have seen some workers return from the picket lines.

As part of the strike arrangements, the RCN has agreed to "safety-critical mitigations" to be built in, meaning its members will agree to abort industrial action if patients are put at risk.

Already, mitigations were in place for neonatal and psychiatric intensive care units, emergency departments and intense trauma units.

However, over the weekend, the cardiology and stroke departments at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital were added to this list.

It has seen registered nurses, clinical support workers and stroke alert nurses who were due to strike urged to attend work as normal.

The measures have also seen registered nurses and clinical support workers in forensic services for the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust also withdrawn from the strike action.

As was the case in previous RCN strikes, union members from the James Paget University Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth have not participated, due to a strike ballot not passing in either hospital.

Meanwhile, health bosses locally have urged people to think carefully before attending A&E - and call 111 in the first instance if they require care.

Tricia D'Orsi, executive director of nursing at NHS Norfolk and Waveney, said: "We are working hard to make sure emergency services, and those which need to be prioritised, maintain safe standards of care."