TRAIN company London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has announced free parking for people getting a Covid vaccine in Newcastle. 

LNER has announced 370 free car parking spaces available for people going to the NHS vaccination centre at Newcastle’s Life Science Centre, which came into force yesterday.

A number of spaces have also been made available for NHS staff and members of the vaccination team currently helping with its rollout.

David Horne, LNER managing director, said: “Since the outbreak of the pandemic we have been working hard to support communities along our route, as well as working to keep our customers and colleagues safe.

“As Newcastle has a major vaccination centre on the LNER route, we are offering free car parking at Newcastle Central Station’s long stay car park to make it as easy as possible for people attending the vaccination centre.”

The venue in Newcastle’s science centre is one of several large vaccination centres that opened earlier this month as part of the nationwide vaccination programme.

Nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other NHS staff working nearby are also being vaccinated along with social care and care home workers.

The Newcastle site covers the vaccine rollout across the North-East of England and North Cumbria, but residents are being urged to stick to GP appointments if they have them.

Professor Neil Watson, chief operating officer for Covid-19 Vaccination Programme for the North-East and North Cumbria, said: “This is a really generous offer from LNER and will make it easier for people to get to the centre for their appointments.

“But we are reminding people if they receive an invite from the national booking service with an appointment for the Centre for Life they can, if they prefer, wait and go to their GP practice for their vaccination. It is likely their invite will arrive from their GP very soon.

"There’s enough vaccine for everyone who wants one, so they don’t need to worry about making a trip to Newcastle if they are happy to wait until their GP contacts them.

“If they have received an invitation to be vaccinated already from their GP practice, we are asking them to keep this appointment rather than go to the Centre for Life. It will not be possible to get a vaccine at a Vaccination Centre without an appointment.”

People are being urged to attend their appointment just a few minutes ahead of their allocated time to ensure queues are minimised outside the building.

Anyone who uses the barrier-controlled car park will be given a ticket on entering. This ticket will be exchanged when checking-in at the Centre for Life for a ticket that will allow people to exit the car park free of charge.