Fences at a Norfolk hospital are to be made taller to prevent its patients from escaping treatment.

The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation is making changes at Hellesdon Hospital as part of efforts to reduce instances of patients absconding from the site.

The changes will see fences surrounding two of its wards increased by more than two feet - from 2.4m to 3.2m in height.

The move is part of ongoing work to reduce the risk of vulnerable patients leaving the hospital without informing staff and follows advice from the police on security measures.

It comes after trust figures showed a doubling in the number of incidents from January to March - when there were 13 absconsions from the site recorded and 21 trustwide.

However, it is understood that this increase was largely due to a single individual repeatedly trying to escape - with the numbers having decreased since then.

Anthony Deery, interim chief nurse at NSFT, said: "Work has been done with our police colleagues to reduce the risk of service users absconding and to protect their safety.

"We have fitted anti-climb measures and fixed furniture where possible.

"We have also improvement works planned to enhance fencing at our Hellesdon site, which should be completed by autumn this year.

"This will increase site security and support us to provide safer, kinder and better care to our service users."

It also comes with police in Norfolk having started its controversial new approach to mental health-related calls - Right Care, Right Person.

Under this policy, which went live this week, police will only attend calls related to mental health in scenarios where there is an immediate risk to somebody's life.

The approach will also see officers no longer attending when a hospital patient has left a medical location without informing staff.