Stressed nurses and staff at north Cumbria's cottages hospitals have been working "above and beyond" to ensure services remain safe, health bosses have admitted.

The chief executive of the trust, which has been forced to close beds at Alston's hospital and reduce some services as it battles "unprecedented" staff shortages, has paid tribute to workers.

Claire Molloy, chief executive of Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, has also appealed for help to recruit more nurses.

It comes after the trust announced it would be implementing contingency plans from this week until safe staffing levels can be guaranteed.

All six beds at Alston's cottage hospital and accompanying in-patient staff are moving to Brampton Community Hospital.

There are hopes Alston's beds will reopen in September once more nurses are recruited.

Elsewhere, Keswick's minor injury unit (MIU) is reducing its hours too and the situation at other "fragile hospitals" including Maryport and Cockermouth is being closely monitored.

The changes are temporary, the trust insists, until safe levels of service can be restored and do not pre-empt any decision about the long-term future of cottage hospitals.

The News & Star revealed last week that the Success Regime’s preferred long-term option is to remove all of the beds from Wigton, Alston and Maryport – and four from Penrith.

The emergency measures are being implemented as the Success Regime prepares to host feedback sessions in Penrith tomorrow and Carlisle next week.

Mrs Molloy said: "Staff have gone above and beyond their roles to ensure services can continue with safe staffing levels for an extended period.

"We are incredibly grateful for their dedication and continued hard work, however this is not sustainable and we are beginning to see the signs of stress in our staff due to the additional demands being placed on them."

She added: "We are reviewing the situation regularly and we are appealing to our partners and the community to support our staff who are working very hard and help us spread the word about the posts we have available within our hospitals."