A hospital which was evacuated after the ceiling came crashing down when a pipe burst is likely to be closed until the end of July.

The incident took place last month at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital when the plumbing failure brought down the roof above a nurses' station, forcing patients and staff to relocate to other local hospitals.

No patients or members of staff were injured by the collapse of the ceiling, which happened around 7.20pm on May 19.

Initially it was thought the facility would be able to re-open within a fortnight, but health chiefs have revealed it will take longer than expected to repair the damage.

Early assessment shows damage has been caused to fire doors, flooring, fire alarms, electrical cabling and water mechanical joints.

The problems are most severe in the entrance area and nurses’ station of Goldsmid ward.

Now the site has been cleared and the damage assessed, large dehumidifiers have been installed for drying out the area damaged by the water.

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Paul Bentley said: "Tonbridge Cottage Hospital, a much-loved part of the local community, will re-open as soon as the repair work is complete, but we need to make sure the building is safe for our patients and staff to return to and, unfortunately, this is not a quick fix.

"Thank you to colleagues for being flexible and for moving temporarily to our other sites and thank you for helping the teams in our other hospitals.

"The temporary closure of Tonbridge is clearly not something we want, so I would like to thank colleagues for their resilience and the community for its patience."

Following the burst pipe, six patients were immediately relocated to Sevenoaks Hospital, where they were accompanied by four members of hospital staff to help them settle in.

A further 12 patients, who were on another wing of the Vauxhall Lane facility when the leak occurred, were moved to other locations locally.

Read more: All the latest news from Tonbridge