DAVID Cameron spent his second day off from being Prime Minister visiting a top science firm in Oxford.

The Witney MP, who resigned from the premiership on Wednesday, tried out a new portable device created by Oxford Nanopore Technologies, based in Oxford Science Park, to analyse bacteria.

He said: "Resistance to antibiotics is a serious, emerging problem.

"It was hugely impressive to see the results of a DNA analysis of a drug-resistant strain of a bacteria today – in just a few minutes."

The company's MinION device can be used to discover the DNA sequences of bacteria, viruses or other pathogens. This shows whether they are resistant to antibiotics. 

It is being used in the field across the world, including by Brazilian and British scientists in North East Brazil to analyse local strains of the Zika virus.

Mr Cameron added: "It was also good to learn more from the scientists at Oxford Nanopore about the technology’s use in TB, Zika and Ebola.  

"This British technology, developed in Oxford but integrating incredible science from elsewhere in the UK, Europe and the US, could be part of a global solution in the fight against drug resistant infectious disease.”

During the ten minute analysis Mr Cameron took part in, the device showed the bacteria was a common drug-resistant strain knowns as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).