A DRIVE-THRU service has been set up at Leigh Infirmary to test people who may have coronavirus.

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) is asking residents to only drive to the site at The Avenue if they have been given an appointment after having a telephone assessment by NHS 111.

People asked to go to the infirmary to be tested for COVID-19 are being told to arrive in their own car and not to enter the building.

The trust said the service "is not a drop-in centre and only those who meet the nationally agreed criteria for a suspected case will be asked to attend and given an appointment for their test".

A WWL spokesman said: "Only referred cases will be tested.

"If you attend any of our hospital premises without an appointment you will not be tested.

"Those referred to the centre for swabbing will arrive in their own car and will not enter the building.

"They will be swabbed outside by specially trained nurses.

"This service is being provided by nursing staff from Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust.

"We are doing this to minimise the impact of testing on local hospitals, which is where cases have been tested in recent weeks."