DOZENS of operations scheduled for Banbury's Horton Hospital have been cancelled after floodwater swamped the theatre suite.

Patients due for urgent surgery have been transferred to other hospitals in Oxford and Warwick. Non-emergency cases have been postponed.

The flood happened last Thursday after a technical problem with the hospital's sterile water supply.

Health managers closed the Horton's four operating theatres and postponed ten operations on Friday, and a further 75 operations booked for this week were postponed or switched to alternative hospitals.

Ambulances carrying seriously injured patients have been diverted to accident and emergency departments at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, or to Warwick Hospital while the clean-up continues.

A spokesman for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals said: "Following a technical problem with the sterile water supply on Thursday night, we had a serious flood in the theatre suite.

"Elective surgery scheduled for this week is being postponed or transferred to one of our other sites.

"All patients are being kept informed and operations will be re-scheduled as quickly as possible.

"We are working hard to reinstate the theatre suite and hope that it will be back in use towards the end of this week."

Meanwhile, the Banbury Cake can reveal that the Horton's Cedar Ward is to close for ten weeks as part of money saving measures by the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust.

The trust described it as merely a good housekeeping measure, but councillor George Parish, who is leading the 'Save the Horton' campaign, said that some 14 beds would be lost during the closure period.

He said: "I am told there will be no job losses, and that staff on Cedar Ward will be moved into other general medical wards.

"This is a matter of serious concern, and 'what comes next' is the question we should all be asking. In the current climate we must make sure the closure is only temporary."

A spokesman for the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust said: "In the next few weeks Cedar Ward will be shutting for ten weeks in response to anticipated reduced demand over the summer.

"This is something that is done most years at the Horton.

"For example, in 2005 ten beds were closed on Oak Ward during the summer.

"Cedar Ward is a discharge ward that is used for some patients who are about to be released from hospital to free space on other wards.

"Patients will simply stay on their main ward rather than be transferred to Cedar prior to their discharge.

"There is a need to save money across the trust's hospitals, and this is simply a good housekeeping measure. The shutdown will save around £30,000, and Cedar Ward will be redecorated during the closure."