NOW it’s official – people shouldn’t go to Royal Bolton Hospital’s A & unless it’s a genuine emergency.

The service is now at breaking point, thanks to those who insist on attending for minor injuries and ailments using what is meant to be an emergency department as their personal default NHS.

Health chiefs want local residents to stay away apart from emergencies. In February alone, 8,752 people went to casualty - a rise of 620 or 7 per cent many of whom could have self-treated, gone to a GP or a pharmacist. Please, just think about this before you go there.