Flowers and children have been banned from a hospital in the latest battle against superbugs.

St Richard's Hospital in Chichester has introduced a no-flowers policy and severely restricted visits by children under the age of 13 in a bid to clean up.

The hospital said the move was for tidiness, cleanliness and infection control reasons but it has angered one relative who described the new rules as "neurotic" and an "absurd situation".

Jim Morrison, of Albion Hill, Brighton - whose mother is being treated at the hospital for a broken foot - said: "I was flabbergasted. I've never heard of anything quite like it. My partner has recently had a baby and there was no problem with giving flowers in the hospital in Brighton.

"The woman in the hospital flower shop informed me that it was a new diktat that the managers had issued."

Once on the ward Mr Morrison noticed that some people had got fresh flowers, including his mother.

He said: "My father had brought some in and they were in a vase so it appears it's not being completely enforced.

"It would have been nice to bring the baby along to cheer my mum up too, but apparently we can't. I think it's health and safety concerns gone mad really - what's next?"

Chris Shephard, who runs the volunteer-led Friends Shop, said: "I think it's fantastic from a health and safety point of view. There's nothing worse than smelling stale water by the bed.

"We are still selling fresh flowers because staff buy flowers for each other on their birthdays. We have asked all our volunteers to advise visitors."

MRSA figures for the Royal West Sussex Trust which runs the hospital recorded a slight rise from 22 infections to 25, with an infection rate of 0.160 per 1,000 bed days for the period between April 2004 and March 2005.

Brighton and Sussex had 129 cases and a rate of 0.345 but have decided not to ban flowers or children.

A spokeswoman for Brighton said it had no policy on flowers but asked patients not to bring them on to high dependency wards.

Ruth Williams, acting director of Nursing at St Richard's, said: "It's about having clear access to patients' tables and lockers and being able to wipe them down easily."

Other gifts such as chocolate and grapes are not included in the ban, although fake flowers are because they collect dust.

The policy is linked to other changes limiting visiting arrangements, which were introduced last November.

People are also advised not to bring under-13s unless it is to see a very close relative.

Mrs Williams said: "We always want to improve. This is about high-quality patient care.

"Of course there are exceptional circumstances when a patient is very ill or if relatives have travelled a long way."

Dr Marjory Greig, consultant microbiologist at St Richard's, said: "Quite simply reducing the number of visitors will make it easier for our cleaning teams to do their job."

A ward visiting leaflet has been produced explaining the new visiting times and other useful information.

It suggests relatives call after 9am in the morning, after the night staff have completed their handing-over.