A hospital ward has been closed after an outbreak of the Clostridium difficile superbug, it emerged yesterday.

Seven patients at the Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline, tested positive for the infection. The ward where they were treated has been closed to new admissions since Friday, when the patients were first taken ill. Fife NHS Board said procedures were in place to control the spread of the infection.

In a statement, the board said: "The patients are being nursed in isolation as part of standard operational procedure and enhanced infection control measures have been put in place." All seven patients are said to be stable or improving.

The cases follow the outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital in Dunbartonshire, where 55 patients were infected and 18 died.

Helen Eadie, the MSP for Dunfermline East, said she was "very concerned" at the outbreak and would seek assurances that infection control guidelines were being followed.

"Families have an absolute right to know that when their loved ones go into hospital they will be cared for in clean and safe conditions," she said.

"Sadly, (the health secretary] Nicola Sturgeon has been consistently complacent about C diff."