There has been a sharp rise in the number of children in Swindon and Wiltshire falling ill with respiratory infections.

Swindon's Great Western Hospital has confirmed this has led attendance to the children's urgent and emergency care services to rise by more than a third since September. 

The BBC has reported that just last week, 700 children were treated there for this reason. 

Among the respiratory illnesses that children are getting is respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV - a common winter virus that causes similar symptoms to a cold, including coughs, rapid or laboured breathing and drowsiness.

The hospital's senior sister of the emergency department, Katie Rix, has shared advice on what to do.

She said: "It is quite normal for young children to pick up cough and colds, however, we are seeing an increase in respiratory illnesses amongst under 16s to our urgent and emergency care services.

"We are also treating more cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV which is a virus that can cause cold-like symptoms and bronchiolitis in children.

"It's important to remember that most respiratory illness amongst young children are not serious. Most will clear within a week or two, and you should not be overly concerned by a cough or a cold.

"In fact you don't need to come to hospital for minor symptoms, you can access the right healthcare in community services such as via a pharmacist.

"Occasionally though, these illnesses are more serious especially among premature babies and children with underlying health conditions.

"You should call your GP of contact NHS 111 if your child has laboured or rapid breathing, is drowsy, is a baby who is feeding less than usual or has had a dry nappy for more than 12 hours. 

"it's important that you call 999 or attend our Emergency Department if your child has pauses in their breathing, an irregular breathing pattern, is grunting, or has severe difficulty breathing.

"You should also seek emergency help if your child's tongue or lips are blue.

"If you're not sure what to do, always call NHS 111 in the first instance"

The hospital has warned that because of this, the urgent and emergency care services are very busy, and will remain busy in the coming months and has asked people to please be patient during this time.