Coronavirus: Patients face long journeys for tests

The government said it had set up a nationwide network of drive-in testing sites

People in England are being told to drive hundreds of miles for coronavirus tests at mobile centres - with some people arriving to find sites empty.

An NHS volunteer in Yorkshire said he tried for three days to book a test, with one option more than 250 miles away.

In Cornwall and Dorset, some people with tests booked found testing was not being carried out when they turned up.

The government said it was "determined" to make testing "simple and fast".

'Russian roulette with lives'

James, 66, from Hull, said when he tried on Saturday to book an appointment, the nearest place offered was Leicester - 100 miles (160km) away.

A second attempt the next day suggested a slot at Gatwick Airport, more than 250 miles (400km) away.

A third offered a slot in Merton, London, about 240 miles (385km) from his home.

He said he gave up trying and would "not do any volunteer work until my symptoms have gone" which he thought would be "at least another week or so".

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In a Facebook post she shared with the BBC, Hartlepool resident Ashley Hornsey asked the government why people in the north east of England were being asked to make a 170-mile round-trip to be tested "so we can do the right thing and ... save lives".

She accused the government of "playing Russian roulette with people[s'] lives".

Teacher Kate Martin, 42, said she and four other people were waiting at a testing site in Bodmin, Cornwall, on Friday with no staff there and no home tests available.

She said she was left "sat in an empty car park in my pyjamas wondering what the next move is".

She was able to get tested the next day.

In Dorset, the the government tweeted that tests were available at a testing site in Blandford Forum.

By Sunday, Public Health Dorset said there would be no testing at the site, despite people booking slots for that day.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was "determined to make it fast and simple for all eligible people" to be tested.

It said it had set up a nationwide network of drive-in sites and introduced "home testing kit delivery and deployed mobile testing units operated by the armed forces."

It also said the "vast majority" of more than 940,000 people tested had reported "no issues with the process".