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Non-emergency operations have been postponed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary due to a lack of beds, NHS Grampian has confirmed.

The decision to postpone elective, non-clinically urgent surgery was taken on Tuesday afternoon.

Non-emergency procedures at the hospital have been cancelled at other times in recent months due to staffing issues.

On this occasion it has been put down to the lack of available beds.

NHS Grampian said the decision to postpone more minor procedures was down to an increase in demand on services.

An NHS Grampian spokesman said: "We can confirm that Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is experiencing a higher than usual demand on services today.

"As a result, the decision was taken this afternoon to postpone some elective, non-clinically urgent procedures. We would like to reassure people that emergency and urgent procedures are unaffected and will still go ahead.

"Hospital services do experience unexpected peaks in demand at various points throughout the year and postponing non urgent, elective procedures is one way that we are able to safely ensure emergency capacity remains unaffected.

"It is not a decision that we take lightly, however, and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused."