A UK nurse has been charged with the murder of eight babies and trying to murder 10 others at a hospital in northern England, police said on Wednesday.

Lucy Letby, 30, was charged over the deaths and “non-fatal collapses” at the neonatal unit at The Countess of Chester Hospital, south of Liverpool, between June 2015 and June 2016.

Ms Letby was first arrested in July 2018 as part of an inquiry but was later released.

“The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Cheshire Police to charge a healthcare professional with murder in connection with an ongoing investigation into a number of baby deaths,” the police said in a statement.