AN 80-year-old Bolton woman dying of cancer was forced to wait six hours on a trolley without a pillow, her family claim.

The pensioner, who is suffering from stomach cancer and was in "extreme pain", was taken by her daughter to the accident and emergency department at the Royal Bolton Hospital at 11pm on Thursday.

It is claimed A&E was "packed to the rafters" with people lying on trolleys in the corridors.

A spokesman for the family, who asked for the identity of the pensioner not to be revealed, said: "This lady is terminally ill and had to wait until 5am in the morning before she was taken to the assessment unit. She still hadn't been found a bed on a proper ward by Friday afternoon.

"What was appalling was that there were no pillows. Nurses were wrapping up blankets and shoving them into pillow cases to act as pillows. Then the hospital closed because it was so busy."

The hospital has confirmed that ambulances were diverted to Bury's Fairfield Hospital from 1am to 3am on Friday due to the pressure.

There has also been extra strain on wards due to the outbreak of a suspected virus which is not connected to the closure of A&E on Friday.

Since Sunday, the Royal Bolton hospital has been forced to close two wards because of the suspected Norwalk virus, which causes vomiting and diarrhoea. Ten patients and one member of staff are believed to have been struck down with the winter illness.

A spokesman for the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust said they did not think the virus was to blame for Friday's temporary closure but said that Thursday night had been extremely busy.

A hospital spokesman said: "Last Thursday was one of the worst for a long time. Regrettably, some patients had long waits in A&E as a result.

"We apologise for this but would like to reassure them that patients are seen in order of clinical need."

The spokesman also said that patients in accident and emergency should not have to go without a pillow, adding: "We would like to apologise for this happening in this particular case."