Holby City is to come to and end after 23 years on screen, the BBC has confirmed.

The BBC drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital first aired in 1999 and has gone on to make more than 1,000 episodes over 23 series.

The hospital dram will remain on screens until March next year before being scrapped as part of the BBC’s commitment to making more programmes across the UK.

The official Holby City Twitter account broke the news to fans with a series of Tweets.

They read: “We’re very sorry to bring you the sad news that Holby City will come to an end in March next year, after 23 amazing years. We are so very grateful to all of Holby’s wonderful cast, crew, writers, producers - and to our millions of loyal viewers and fans for being part of our show.

“This tough decision reflects the BBC’s commitment to make more programmes across the UK and to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country.”

A statement from the BBC read: "We are incredibly proud of Holby City but it’s with great sadness that we are announcing that after 23 years, the show will end on screen in March of next year.

"We sometimes have to make difficult decisions to make room for new opportunities and as part of the BBC's commitment to make more programmes across the UK, we have taken the difficult decision to bring the show to a close in order to reshape the BBC's drama slate to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the amazing team at BBC Studios and all the cast and crew who have been involved in the show since 1999.

"Holby has been a stalwart with audiences, delighting millions of viewers each week and winning hundreds of awards with a compelling mix of cutting edge medical stories and explosive personal stories.

"We look forward to working with the team over the coming months to ensure that when it ends, Holby goes out on a high."

The news sparked outrage among furious fans on social media.

“Absolutely wrong decision. You have millions of loyal holby fans that have stuck by you and you do this? Maybe emailling the BBC and telling them exactly what we think,” one fan fumed.

 Another added: “That's terrible news. What a shame for all involved and you also had one of the best Twitter admins amongst BBC programmes. Thanks for the last 23 years and we'll definitely miss you every Tuesday night.”

“WWWHHHHYYYYY?????? Holby city is like the highlight off the week. Absolutely gutted and upset. The BBC have made a huge mistake doing this. Absolute joke,” said a third fan.

Holby City will continue to air on Tuesday night’s until March 2022.