The BBC has donated fully working ventilators for the set of a medical drama to the NHS.

The ventilators bound for the Holby City set at the BBC Centre in Borehamwood have instead headed to the new Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre in London.

The corporation shared the news in a tweet, showing workers loading equipment into a van.

Holby City executive producer Simon Harper said: "We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real-life medics."

The BBC has said that prior to the coronavirus crisis, Holby City prodution took delivery of two working anaesthetic machines with ventilators attached.

The corporation said it immediately asked its supplier if the ventilators could be donated to the NHS, and it was confirmed this week that the equipment had been sent to the NHS.

The BBC has added that the other ventilators currently used on set were purchased many years ago and are "unsuitable" for medical use.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been donated from the sets of Holby City, Casualty, and River City to NHS trusts around the UK, the BBC added.

The first new NHS Nightingale hospital was created in just nine days to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

There are also Nightingale hospitals in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate, with two more announced on Friday on Wearside and in Exeter.