AMBULANCES were diverted after an emergency hospital generator failed to start during a power cut which affected thousands of homes.

Contingency plans were put into place at Maidstone Hospital after a faulty power cable plunged 3,000 homes into darkness.

Firefighters from across the county were despatched to the hospital in Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, to provide portable lighting and power generators.

The only emergency generator failed to kick in when a circuit breaker– designed to automatically start the generator when there is a power fault – didn’t work, cutting power to the entire hospital.

Machines caring for patients in intensive care and on life support were sustained by battery back-up. One woman in labour was transferred to Pembury Hospital as a precautionary measure.

Staff were drafted in as part of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust Major Incident Plan – including extra managers and medical staff – while police guarded the entrance.

A trust spokesman said the A&E department was closed and ambulances diverted to Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, and Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, for almost two hours. He stressed that no patients were at risk.

He said: "We had ambulances on standby to transfer these patients from the outset to ensure there was no possible risk to their health."

Trust emergency planning officer, John Weeks, said its emergency plans were well rehearsed, which included preparing two intensive care patients and five babies to be transferred.

"Our staff did everything right to ensure patients were safe and well cared for during the time we were without power," he said.

"NHS emergency planning officers work closely with the emergency services to ensure when an incident happens we are able to mount a co-ordinated and sustained response."

The incident happened at 4am on Tuesday. Power was restored at about 6am before steps were taken to evacuate the hospital.