A St Albans GP surgery has cancelled all of its routine face to face appointments to reduce the risk of infection amid coronavirus fears.

The Maltings Surgery has informed patients that it has 'taken the extraordinary but important step to convert all upcoming appointments to telephone calls'.

It took to its website and said: 'Please do not come to the surgery unless this is by prior arrangement as you will not be able to access our building to book an appointment or to collect your prescription.

'This is to reduce the infection risk to our patients and staff.

'Please call us on 01727 855500 where you will be offered a triage telephone appointment where needed or given other appropriate advice and guidance.

'We can also offer video consultations and we would recommend you make use of our website where you can complete an on-line consultation. If you have Patient Access available to you then you can send us a message or request your repeat medication.'

The latest Department of Health update says that 456 people had tested positive for the virus in the UK, and eight people have sadly died.