CAFES, restaurants and petrol stations across the borough are being asked to open their doors to allow hard-working community nurses to take a break between shifts.

Bosses at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust are launching the campaign to help community nurses who often work out and about for hours at a time without being able to have a comfort break.

Diane Wake, chief executive of the Trust, said: “We are asking petrol stations, cafes and other places with toilets if they would be willing to let nurses pop in and use the loo, and also to let nurses fill up their water bottles so they can stay hydrated throughout their shift.

“Locations would need to have easy parking as our nurses need to just be able to pop in quickly between appointments.”

Community nurses at the Trust clock up hundreds of miles each month as they travel an area stretching from Kinver in South Stafordshire, across the Dudley borough to the borders with Wolverhampton and Oldbury.

Businesses across the area who are happy to support the scheme would be given a poster to display so nurses can easily recognise where they can stop.

Any businesses interested in offering support are asked to email Francesca.tibbetts@nhs.net