THE MP for Northwich has brandished the governments management of the coronavirus testing system as 'a complete shambles'.

Mike Amesbury has written the Health Secretary Matt Hancock over the testing problems in Weaver Value, as more local lockdown measures were announced for neighbouring regions.

The MP has been inundated with concerns from constituents who’ve been unable to book tests or have had to make long journeys due to no local availability.

He’s called on the government to take urgent action to address the situation.

With new local lockdown measures looming for some parts of the North West from next Tuesday, he also hit out at the government’s handling of the pandemic.

He said: "This will be a worrying and frustrating time for people, not just in terms of their health but also for livelihoods.

"But we must all play our part to help get the infection rates back down again.

"That being said, the Government’s mismanagement has led us to this complete shambles.

"Instead of using the time they were bought with all of our sacrifices during the hard lockdowm to prepare for a second winter spike – which every legitimate expert had warned us would happen due to things such as children going back to school – they’ve squandered the last few months doing things like giving government contracts to their mates and scrapping Public Health England.

"They were warned early on that rigorous test, track and trace measures must be put in place to help avoid a second winter spike.

"They seemed to abandon that altogether and now what testing we do have in place increasingly seems to be unable to cope.

"I’ve been contacted by many constituents in recent days who’ve told me they’ve been unable to get a test, or have had to make round trips of well over 100 miles to get one – an issue I’ve raised this week in a letter to Matt Hancock."