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Patients in a north London hospital’s stretched A&E ward were told to go home and return in the morning unless they were at risk of dying.

An announcement over the tannoy in North Middlesex Hospital, Edmonton, told people who had already waited for hours to come back the next day unless they had a life-threatening illness, the Sunday People reported.

Hundreds of patients had arrived at the emergency department on Friday before the message was broadcast at about 11pm.

A witness said about a dozen patients were stuck on trolleys lining the walls of the ward, because all the cubicles were full.

The announcement reportedly said: “We would ask anyone who doesn’t have a life-threatening illness to go home and come back in the morning.”

A trust spokesman said it was an “exceptionally busy Friday” with the hospital seeing 450 cases.

He added: “That included a number of major cases of resuscitation and blue-light ambulance cases.

“We were under pressure and we were seeing waits of up to seven hours.

“We did inform people to come back the next day if their cases weren't urgent.”

The hospital has faced extra pressure since the closure of the A&E ward at nearby Chase Farm Hospital.