DEDICATED knitters from all over the world have gone above and beyond for the The Bath Birthing Centre at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust.

The RUH has called time for now on its incredibly successful baby bobble hat appeal, with the birthing centre being donated bags of colour coded hats.

Practice Development Sister, Rachel Coleman, said: "We're really grateful to all of the hard-working knitters and crocheters who have been so very generous with their time, skill and wool. Thank you to everyone who was part of this wonderful response - we're stunned at the number of hats that have arrived."

The Bath Birthing Centre originally asked for around 5,000 hats to help ensure that babies received the individual care they need.

But their social media appeal went viral, with knitters aged nine to 94 getting involved and sending hats from 160 different locations, and different countries including the USA, Portugal, Spain, the UK and Ireland.

The white hats, with red, amber or green bobbles, give a traffic-light indication to midwifery staff about a baby's care.

A green bobble means a baby is term, warm and feeding well, amber means a baby needs a little bit more help with feeding and red shows a baby will have regular observations by a nurse or midwife.

Ms Coleman added: "Babies still receive traditional midwifery care, but this is an extra visual aid. The hats make a real difference in further improving the quality of care we provide and we are extremely grateful for every hat donated.

"Our appeal really caught the imagination of knitters across the world. We now have enough hats for our babies for a while to come, and we are running out of space to store them. The hats are in use at the RUH and some will be sent to Gambia later this year.

"Thank you to everyone who supported this appeal - if more hats are required we won't hesitate to ask."