A FURTHER three-day mobile unit to test for coronavirus has been set up in the car park at an edge of town retail centre in County Durham.

The military and NHS England have teamed up to open and run the facility at Dalton Park, Murton, to provide testing for essential workers and the vulnerable.

Set up at short notice, testing is taking place from today until Tuesday.

Those who meet the eligibility criteria can book an appointment while it is live on the Government website.

Testing will take place between 10am and 3pm on all three days.

Details are available on Durham County Council’s Facebook and twitter accounts, as well as its website.

Similar testing stations have been operated at Darlington Arena, Hambleton District Council offices, in Northallerton, Teesside Park, at Stockton, and at Ikea, near the Metrocentre, Gateshead.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said they have been set up to provide testing for essential workers and vulnerable people in areas where there is said to be "significant" demand.

Such mobile facilities can be up and running in less than 20 minutes and allow for hundreds of people to be tested each day.

Specially-trained members of the armed forces collect swabs at the mobile sites before they are sent to "mega-labs" for processing, with results available within 48 hours.

It comes as the Government seeks to maintain its target level of 100,000-plus tests a day, which has been achieved over the last two days.