AN INTENSIVE care doctor working on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital has slammed rock band the Stereophonics for not cancelling two packed concerts in Cardiff.

Dr David Hepburn who works at one of Britain's worst-hit hospitals says the decision not to cancel the two gigs at the Motorpoint Arena last month was "insane".

Rockers Stereophonics played two sold out shows to 10,000 fans on March 14 and 15 at a time when other gigs, sporting events and mass gatherings across the country had been cancelled.

Dr Hepburn said: "With retrospect, as disapproving as I was at the time, the decision of the Stereophonic to play those gigs in Cardiff at the start of the outbreak seems down right insane now."

The band fronted by Kelly Jones are treated as homecoming heroes at Welsh gigs.

But Dr Hepburn's team at the Royal Gwent has seen one of Britain's worst hotspots for coronavirus cases.

Stereophonics played back-to-back shows at the 5,000-capacity venue despite accusations at the time of being "irresponsible" at the time but the venue declined to offer refunds to nervous ticketholders.

Dr Hepburn had previously warned people to obey social distancing rules as his intensive care ward was over capacity. He was himself struck down by coronavirus - but has since returned to the frontline.

He said: "It looks like we’re going to have a very busy few months at the minute.

"We’ve got over 16 patients in intensive care, our normal capacity would be 13 ventilated patients.

"We’ve gone into the operating theatres now so we’ve got another three ventilated patients there."