Brentwood Community Hospital saw an influx of new patients this week after St George’s Hospital, in Hornchurch, was forced to close due to high levels of the Legionella bacteria.

The Crescent Drive facility is one of two sites where patients were transferred after the bug, which can cause Legionnaire’s disease, was found in the water system.

An NHS spokesman said that a previously vacant ward at the hospital was being used and “there has been no impact on the core services that the hospital provides.”

He added: “There is some additional use on things such as the hospital’s x-ray department, but this is not affecting the service as we are talking very low numbers.”

No cases of the disease, which can’t be passed from person to person, have been found among the elderly patients of St George’s.

Four patients were transferred from St George’s to Brentwood and then moved on again to Grays Court in Dagenham.

Around 20 new patients in total have arrived in Brentwood.