A viral video shared on social media which claims to show medics stepping over body bags at a mortuary in Northwick Park Hospital is proven to be false and misinformation.

The video has been circulating on social media and forwarded through Whatsapp messages, recording a mortuary with a crowded room of bodies stacked up on the floor and medics stepping over them.

Many of these posts have been misleading people into believing they are at London hospitals including Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow.

However, these videos were not recorded at any London hospital.

The London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust said on Facebook: “We’re aware of a video that is circulating claiming to be of Northwick Park Hospital’s mortuary.

“This is not correct. The people sharing the video are directly causing harm to our communities and staff by willingly sharing false information.

“No matter where this facility is, think – is sharing an image of people’s loved ones an appropriate thing for an adult to do?”

The video has also been shared through Whatsapp falsely suggesting this is at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.

But fact checking agency FullFact has traced the video back to a hospital in Ecuador.

Another video circulating through Whatsapp also claims to be at St Mary’s, showing a hospital corridor with people coughing and lying on the floor due to a lack of beds.

However, we can confirm this recording was actually at a hospital in Madrid released earlier last month during the outbreak.

Today, Whatsapp have announced they will place new limits on the forwarding of messages to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Messages that are identified as highly forwarded can now only be forwarded to a single person instead of a large group of people.

The messenger company owned by Facebook said: "We've seen a significant increase in the amount of forwarding which users have told us can feel overwhelming and can contribute to the spread of misinformation

"We believe it's important to slow the spread of these messages down to keep WhatsApp a place for personal conversation."

WhatsApp also confirmed it was testing a feature which would allow users to find out more information about frequently forwarded messages that reach them.

The feature would see a magnifying glass icon appear next to these forwarded messages, giving users the option to do a web search for the message to find news stories and other results linked to it.

On Monday, MPs called for social media platforms to be held to account by the Government over their handling of disinformation on their services, while Hertsmere MP and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden is to discuss the issue with tech giants this week.