A DRIVE-THROUGH coronavirus testing centre will be set up in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole conurbation in the coming week.

Speaking at Monday's meeting of BCP Council's scrutiny committee, Dorset director for public health, Sam Crowe, said work was ongoing to identify a site but it was still expected a facility would be operational in about a week.

The move follows criticism from care providers which have been told the closest testing centre for their staff is a 250-mile round trip away at Gatwick Airport.

Testing of suspected coronavirus outbreaks at care homes is overseen by Public Health England with tests processed in Bristol and results usually available within “a couple of days”.

The county’s three main hospitals also test patients with “respiratory symptoms” using the “limited capacity” of their own laboratories.

But private care firms have been told that the closest testing facility for their staff is at Gatwick Airport.

Last week, Rachel Dryden, the chief executive of Encore Care Homes, which operates facilities across the conurbation, sdescribed the arrangement as “incredibly unfair”.

Concerns were echoed by the Local Government Association on Tuesday which said the care industry needed “reliable and ongoing” supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as better testing.

And speaking at a meeting of BCP Council’s scrutiny committee on Monday, Mr Crowe said the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole conurbation was in line for a drive-through testing centre.

“[Testing at Gatwick Airport is] not ideal for people travelling from BCP Council – it’s a long way to go,” he said.

“There are discussions ongoing about identifying a site – either in Bournemouth or Poole or in the wider conurbation – for a drive-through testing facility and I believe that is planned for either April 28 or 29.

“In Dorset we don’t have as much capacity as we would like to be able to test the workers in these different roles and we need to stand that up as quickly as we can.”

The new testing centre will be one of “around 50” which the government has said would be set up across the country by the end of the month through a partnership with Deloitte.

A further update on the county’s coronavirus testing capacity is expected to be given to Public Health Dorset in the coming days.