Victims of MRSA burst into a hospital wearing cleaning outfits and carrying mops to raise awareness of the problem for a TV documentary.

Ten people walked into the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton unannounced as part of BBC Three's nationwide clean-up to register their disgust at dirty hospitals and rising MRSA rates.

About 100 people joined the protest at ten hospitals from the worst-hit MRSA trusts across the UK. All had been affected by the hospital superbug.

Armed with mops and dusters, they set off to the hospitals in minibuses and walked in at a co-ordinated time and began cleaning the public areas - to the amazement of staff.

They will feature in a documentary this autumn as part of a new series, Mischief.

The six-parter tackles serious concerns using unconventional approaches.

Series producer Stuart Cabb said: "Mischief illuminates serious contemporary issues with wit and humour. We've tried to find entertaining ways into difficult subjects but always ensuring the films are grounded in solid journalism."

Among the "cleaners" were people whose lives have been blighted by MRSA, including a former truck driver whose leg was amputated after he caught the superbug and a young sportsman whose knee was destroyed by it.

Every person taking part in the operation on Sunday had been trained by infection control nurses on how to clean effectively and avoid causing cross-contamination. Seven MRSA victims were joined by three BBC crew.

Nick Bray, BBC director in charge of the Royal Sussex County Hospital team, said: "At around 2.30pm on Sunday I led a team of volunteer cleaners into the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

"We took our dusters and mops into the reception area first, up one of the corridors and then into a lift before we left.

"The reception area was mucky and looked like it hadn't had a clean for a good while. The lift was really dirty, which is disturbing when you think how many patients are moved around the hospital in lifts.

"We were in the hospital for about 20 minutes and in that time we only saw one nurse and a receptionist. Eventually security asked us to leave, which we did immediately."

The ten hospitals all belong to trusts which officially "under-achieve" on MRSA, according to the latest report published by NHS watchdog the Healthcare Commission.

The Royal Sussex County Hospital is no stranger to cameras. Panorama went undercover there to reveal neglect of elderly patients and the documentary was screened last month.

It was also revealed recently that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has more cases of the MRSA superbug than almost anywhere else in England. It has the third highest infection rate in the country and the figures have alarmed patients, health MPs and watchdogs.

MRSA victim Tanya Page is suing the NHS for £260,000 after she was almost killed by the bug when she went into hospital to have a baby.

The 32-year-old from Uckfield was in a coma for four months after going into the Princess Royal, Haywards Heath, one of the trust's hospitals.

A trust spokeswoman said: "Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has been very open about what it is doing to tackle MRSA and hospital cleanliness. We are always happy to share this information with the public and patients.

"The trust welcomes any kind of serious documentary to highlight the issue of MRSA but this unannounced filming by the BBC puts patient confidentiality at risk and may increase the chances of cross-infection.

"We are also aware that the Department of Health has made a complaint to the BBC about this programme on behalf of the hospitals across the country which were subjected to this visit."