RESIDENTS in Winchester attempting to book a coronavirus test through the Government's online portal face a 182-mile round trip to the nearest centre with availability in the next week.

People across the country have had problems in recent days trying to book antigen tests, which tell you whether you have Covid-19 at the time of the test.

A search on the Government's testing portal for the postcode of the Chronicle’s office in Upper Brook Street, carried out on Tuesday lunchtime reveals that the nearest place to get a test should you have symptoms in the next five days is the Lee Valley Athletics Park in London.

The Government's website says the centre is 67.7 miles away from Winchester, but currently according to Google Maps, the quickest route would take one hour and 41 minutes and be a 91.2-mile trip.

However, that distance could be even further later today, as the website shows that just one test is available in the next five days, with next available centre Telford Ironbridge Park and Ride, more than 120 miles away.

Now a senior official at NHS Test and Trace has issued an apology on Twitter to residents unable to book a test.

Sarah-Jane Marsh, director of testing and NHS Test and Trace, said: "Can I please offer my heartfelt apologies to anyone who cannot get a COVID test at present.

"All of our testing sites have capacity, which is why they don't look overcrowded, it's our laboratory processing that is the critical pinch-point. We are doing all we can to expand quickly."

She added: "We have additional NHS, Lighthouse, University and Partner Labs all due to open-up imminently and we are also expanding the use of non-laboratory based tests. The testing team work on this 18 hours a day, seven days a week. We recognise the country is depending on us."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Hundreds of thousands of people are being tested every day and new booking slots and home testing kits are being made available daily.

“There is a high demand for tests and to help stop the spread of the virus we are targeting testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, as well as prioritising at-risk groups.

“We have the capacity to test for coronavirus at an unprecedented scale. We are expanding capacity to 500,000 tests a day by the end of October, increasing the number of testing sites and bringing in new technology to process results faster.”