A conspiracy theorist who was fined after she filmed NHS medics and patients claiming the NHS is not being overrun by the current coronavirus has been banned from all UK hospitals.

Hannah Dean claimed to be a “registered journalist” and posted images of hospitals across south-east England on Facebook.

Police confirmed now faces arrest and possible criminal prosecution if she ignores an Asbo-style community protection notice and can only visit a hospital in an emergency, for a booked appointment or if she is a dependent of a patient.

Fines of up to £2,500 could be issued by the courts if she is convicted of breaching the notice and she is also banned from encouraging others to flout Covid national lockdown restrictions.

Dean, from Fareham near Portsmouth, was warned by police on Sunday not to attend any hospital unless she has a prior appointment, is a dependent or there is a medical emergency.

She was also told to not encourage, endorse or incite another person to breach Covid-19 restrictions.

But the 30-year-old turned up at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester on the same day as being issued with the Community Protection Warning (CPW), Sussex Police said.

On Monday she was issued with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) by Hampshire Police.

Under the terms of the notice, Dean must not attend a hospital site “unless there is a legitimate reason or prior appointment”.

Breaching a CPN is an offence and could lead to her being brought to court and charged.

Police previously said that Dean’s claims about hospitals had been causing “angst in the community”.

Hospital staff 'working their guts out to support people'

A senior police officer branded Dean's actions "unacceptable", while Portsmouth council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said they were a "disgrace".

Chief Inspector Jon Carter said: “There are a variety of tactics of dealing with this kind of unacceptable behaviour. We are working together with Hampshire Constabulary to ensure the best avenues to deter this behaviour from continuing are taken.”

Vernon-Jackson said he has spoken to NHS staff "working their guts out to support people" and added: "It’s an irrefutable fact that there’s huge pressure on the hospital."

He added: "To say [Covid-19] doesn’t exist, it’s a hoax, is so demeaning to the work those people are putting in, the risks they’re putting themselves under and the loss so many families have felt in this city.

"It's a disgrace and how anybody could do that to other people and show so little for their suffering and their hard work, I don’t know."

Shared conspiracy theories online

Photos of corridors were claimed to be taken at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Southampton General hospital, the Princess Royal University hospital near Bromley, Kent, and St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex.

Alongside pictures said to be taken at the Portsmouth hospital, she wrote: “Hospital is the quietest I have ever seen it! I walked all over the hospital, including A&E!

“I know this is hard to get our heads around, but the government are lying to us! And the reason why they’re lying to us … is very disturbing!”

A spokesman for Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in West Sussex, criticised the claims saying: “This is untrue and highly disrespectful to all the patients and families affected by Covid, as well as our staff who are working extremely hard in very challenging circumstances.

“We must stress, pictures of empty corridors do not mean our wards and intensive care units are empty.”