A nurse has been struck off for sending a patient a saucy text message.

Dennis Dowle, 61, invited the woman to have sex with him after writing that he was bored.

He also met the woman in a pub the day after she left hospital and sent her a series of messages signed off with a kiss.

When the woman's ex-boyfriend heard about Dowle's messages, he lodged a complaint with health chiefs and Dowle was sacked for gross misconduct.

Dowle was today found guilty of misconduct by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and told his fitness to practise was impaired due to his inappropriate contact with Patient A.

Sarah Page, for the NMC told the hearing about the pair's relationship while Dowle was working as a charge nurse at Woodlands Unit, a mental health hospital at The Ridge in Hastings, east Sussex.

Patient A was a patient at the unit between December 19 2005 and January 13 2006.

On January 17, 2006, Sue Brace, the matron of the unit, was told by a doctor that Patient A's ex-boyfriend had made a complaint saying that Dowle had acted inappropriately towards the patient.

When she was spoken to by Ms Brace, she confirmed that she had received a series of text and voice mail messages from Dowle during the previous week and was angry and insulted.

The first one read: "Hiya, it's me. I am down at the swimming pool. Bit bored. I wondered whether you fancied a s**g? Talk to you again."

The patient said that on January 14, the day after her discharge, Dowle met her at a pub because he wanted her to sign her discharge papers.

Dowle never touched her or sent any other messages that might imply sex, the patient said.

Other messages included: "I missed your text back", "Hi, wish you the best of luck today den XX"‚ "Hi how's it going?", and "Good morning have a really nice day... Hope to speak to you later XX."

Dowle, of St Leonards on Sea, east Sussex, eventually admitted the allegations after initially denyying any wrongdoing.

Striking him off as a nurse after finding him guilty of misconduct, chairman Angela O‚Connor said: "He accepts as a result of the facts, his fitness to practise is impaired.

"He has breached the NMC code of conduct and has failed to act in such a way that justifies the trust and confidence the public must have in a nurse.

"He has admitted sending voice and text messages. In two he said he added kiss symbols which clearly show he was over-familiar with this vulnerable patient.

"He said he sent the most serious message in a jokey way but admitted it was totally inappropriate.

"He said he had attempted to communicate with her in a way she would understand but did not mean to offend her.

"He has shown a significant lack of insight because this sort of message should never be part of any therapeutic relationship between nurse and patient.

"He failed to observer the boundaries that must exist between a nurse and a patient and this was a vulnerable patient."