Blood donation will continue in Cheddar despite the coronavirus crisis, with donors being reassured that travel to sessions is classed as essential.

Donation sessions will continue to be held at Cheddar Village Hall, and the NHS Blood and Transplant service has made a plea to village residents to keep donating to maintain stock levels.

An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson said: "We want to reassure donors in Somerset that extra safety measures are in place during the coronavirus outbreak.

"We ask donors who are fit and healthy to keep donating as normal. Our sessions and donor centres are still open and travel to blood donation sessions is essential for the NHS during the lockdown.

"We've put extra safety measures in place and safety is always our number one priority. We're spacing our chairs out as much as each venue permits, doing extra cleaning, and triaging everyone who arrives so only people with no risk factors can enter the donation area.

"We're asking donors to follow our latest advice and the advice from the Government. Donations have dropped, though our stock levels are good because hospitals are cancelling routine operations.

"Our appointments are mostly full but cancellations have increased. If you need to cancel your appointment, please let us know so that we can offer the appointment to someone else.

"We need people in Somerset to keep donating as they normally would to make sure we can keep supplying the blood hospitals need in the coming weeks and months. Patients and doctors are relying on us to be there."