People in North Devon were told to travel over seven hours to Edinburgh to get a test for coronavirus, but the local MP said the problem was people booking tests they did not need.
A local newspaper reported that testing shortages had led to people in the area being told to make the 900 mile round trip if they wanted a test.
Google estimates the drives between Devon and Edinburgh city centre would take just under eight hours each way.
UK Government test sites have reportedly struggled to handle demand for tests, with a backlog in results prompting the capacity to be limited.
Edinburgh Live reported recently how people in the city had been met with a message telling them no tests were available when they tried to use the online booking system.
Dr Bruce Hughes, a GP partner at Fremington Medical Centre, told the North Devon Gazette : “Greater Covid testing capacity is needed locally, like elsewhere, as some patients in North Devon are being signposted as far as Edinburgh in Scotland and Esher in Surrey for one, which is clearly inappropriate.”
But the local MP for the area blamed a surge in test requests from people not showing symptoms.
Selaine Saxby MP said: “Nationally there has been a surge in people asking for tests. Unfortunately, many people have been applying for tests when not showing symptoms, but when they have been asked to self-isolate."
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A deputy director of the UK's testing programme took to Twitter to offer her "heartfelt" apologies to those who had experienced problems earlier in September.
"All of our testing sites have capacity, which is why they don't look overcrowded, its our laboratory processing that is the critical pinch-point," testing boss Sarah-Jane Marsh explained.
