Shropshire’s two main hospitals were bursting at the seams today as the big freeze continued to cause chaos across the region.

The Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal Hospitals are running at full capacity and sending some patients to nursing homes to free up beds.

And ambulance chiefs said they were still being inundated with calls from people suffering minor injuries from trips or falls or minor ailments because of the cold weather despite several warnings to dial 999 only if it is an emergency.

The weather also took its toll on schools. Three closed in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin and one also closed in Powys.

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• See also: Temperatures fall to -11C

At one stage five ambulances were queued up outside the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital at the same time yesterday.

But there was some good news as one of two wards closed at the RSH due to an outbreak of a sickness and diarrhoea bug reopened yesterday, with the other one due to reopen today.

A spokesman for the county’s four NHS trusts said: “The NHS in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is urging people to only attend hospital if they require emergency or critical care.

“The call comes as the county’s acute hospitals are running at full capacity with exceptionally high demand through flu starting earlier this year together with illnesses and accidents caused by the very cold weather.

“As a result of the current heavy demands on hospitals, the NHS is having to make some decisions which we appreciate may be disruptive and inconvenient for some patients – such as transferring patients to nursing homes if they no longer need the full facilities of the acute hospitals.

“These decisions are only taken after very careful thought to make sure that full hospital facilities are available for those that need them urgently.”

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it has received a significant increase in calls because of the cold weather, snow and ice and was also under immense pressure.  

A trust spokesman said: “The service is still experiencing inappropriate calls from people who have minor injuries from trips and falls, and also people with minor ailments associated with the cold weather. There are also still people calling with cases of colds and flu.

“Please only call the ambulance service in genuine emergencies and life-threatening situations.”

People are being asked to consider all of the options available to them if they are ill. These include staying warm at home and drinking plenty of fluids for cold and flu symptoms, asking the pharmacist, ringing NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 for advice, visiting their GP or ringing Shropdoc on 08450 20 21 31 out-of-hours.

Church Preen Primary School, near Church Stretton, was shut today after staff decided the local roads were too dangerous for children to be able to safely make their way in.

Work is still being carried out on a heating system at Redhill Primary School in Telford which will not be completed until tomorrow and Wrockwardine Wood Junior School in Telford was also closed today after its boiler broke down.

In Powys, children at Newbridge-on-Wye Primary School were given another day off because of a heating failure.

Gritters have been out across the county with motorists being urged to drive slowly and and take extra care. 

And Severn Trent appealed to its eight million customers across the Midlands and Wales to protect their water systems, after reports pipes were freezing even with heating on.