One of the largest Covid testing sites in the country is to close with the reported loss of hundreds of jobs.
The Haydock Park testing centre in St Helens which has been in operation since April 2020 is to close the Department of Health and Social Care has said.
The exact date of the closure has not been officially confirmed but a source has claimed this could be as early as next week.
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An employee working at the test site at Haydock Park racecourse - who didn't want to be named - said the site owners have given them four weeks notice and the testing centre will close by June 21.
The employee said: "It's one of the biggest in the country, it's five lanes. We trialled the rapid testing for the Government and we also did specific testing for the South African variant.
"They've said they're looking for another site but said they've not found anything suitable which, to be honest, is a load of rubbish because St Helens is just full of empty fields.
"St Helens is the second hotspot in the North West for Covid and the mobile testing units are deployed from there as well, the ones that drive around and do testing in random areas."
They added: "I feel sorry for the other people as they have just taken a lot of new staff on and they are only required to give them a few days notice.
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"There's four different shifts that work there so it must be about 100 staff or more."
St Helens Council told the ECHO they are still in talks to try and keep the test centre open.
The council did not comment on job losses and Boots who employ people on the site did not respond.
A St Helens Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are currently working with our partners at the Department of Health and Social Care and in conversation with Haydock Park Racecourse to look at extending the facility operating in the coming weeks as we take action as an Enhanced Response Area.
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"If this is not possible we will look at alternative arrangements for further testing facilities alongside our current provision in Earlestown and through mobile testing units across the borough."
After confirming the planned closure, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “To tackle this global pandemic we have built the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities in British history from scratch which has now conducted over 186 million coronavirus tests.
“Testing is a vital part of our ongoing response to COVID-19 and our roadmap back to normal life, and we have a huge PCR testing capability for people with symptoms, that is helping us break chains of transmission.
“We are making it easier than ever to get a test with free twice weekly rapid tests available for everyone in England, meaning cases can be detected faster and more easily, and outbreaks can be stopped earlier.”
