RESIDENTS attempting to book a coronavirus test through the government's online portal have been told their nearest site is in Scotland or that no facilities are available.

People living in post codes across the conurbation and the New Forest have experienced similar issues this morning.

This comes just a week after it was confirmed the booking system for the Creekmoor drive-through centre had regularly been switched off due to a lack of laboratory capacity.

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."

As reported, Dorset director of public health last week told BCP Council's health and wellbeing board was being "turned off" when laboratory capacity was stretched to ensure testing could be managed in areas with a greater rate of infection.

In late August, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed it had received reports of Creekmoor not appearing as a test site option for residents.

People had been advised to turn up at the site without a booking if they needed a test at the time, however, it has since been confirmed this was a short-term issue and people should now be booking a test before attending the facility.

A DHSC 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.”