TWO Teesside MPs have told the UK's Vaccine Minister that Middlesbrough FC's Riverside Stadium or Redcar Racecourse should become mass vaccination centres.

Conservative MPs Jacob Young and Simon Clarke have written to the minister, Nadhim Zahawi, proposing the two sites as potential mass vaccination centres.

Mr Young, the Conservative MP for Redcar, and Mr Clarke, the Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, have asked Mr Zahawi to consider the benefit of a mass vaccination site in Teesside as the area does not have one.

The joint letter says: "In our area, our local Primary Care Networks have worked night and day to cover the priority groups as defined by risk, and our Hospital Vaccine Hub at James Cook University Hospital has delivered the vaccine to many key workers in healthcare and other professions across the Tees Valley.

"However, as we approach the time when we must start to roll out the second dose of the vaccine, we must ensure that Teesside is not left behind in terms of a Mass Vaccination Centre.

"Our closest Mass Vaccination Centre is in Sunderland, which is more than 40 miles away for our constituents to travel which is obviously presenting a challenge in encouraging take-up.

"Two potential sites for this are the Riverside Stadium, in Middlesbrough, or Redcar Racecourse. Both sites have previously been Covid-19 testing sites and so will be familiar to your department.

"As you look at the rollout of the vaccine in the coming days and weeks, please urgently consider this need for the 660,000 people who live in the Tees Valley."