Security is to be stepped up at Skipton Hospital following the theft of cabling connected to the back-up emergency electrical generator.

Thieves took 20 yards of heavy-duty copper wire from the Keighley Road site.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire and York Community and Mental Health Services, said: “The cabling will be replaced as a matter of urgency. However, in the very unlikely event of a local power failure, any dialysis patients for example, could be transferred to alternative local facilities.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Skipton Police on 0845 6060247 or the confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111.