ANYONE living in Oxfordshire can now claim a Covid testing kit to use at home, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.

Asymptomatic testing kits which can be used at home have been given out to essential workers for months, allowing them to regularly check whether or not they are infected with Covid, even if they do not show the signs of the disease.

But as of last week, all residents of Oxfordshire are now able to claim these testing kits from four community testing centres around the county.

The rollout of the kits to the wider public comes as Covid restrictions ease, and the readily available tests have been billed as a way of making sure people feel safe and confident they will not contract or transmit Covid when returning to crowded shopping centres, bars and restaurants.

Lee Clayson, the manager at the Kings Centre asymptomatic testing centre, Osney Mead, said: "People are now starting to meet family, they are starting to socialise, and they can do so knowing they can feel safe.

"It is very important we now don't want the Covid numbers to jump up again. We feel this is a very good way of making sure we can continue to open up safely."

He added the uptake in people collecting home testing kits had already been high.

Alongside the Kings Centre, members of the public can visit other community testing facilities at the Beacon in Wantage, Brownes Hall in Carterton, and Banbury's Spiceball Leisure Centre.

All these centres are open between 8.30am and 7pm on weekdays, and 8.30am and 12.30pm on Saturdays.

They also offer rapid testing for people who are unsure about how to use one of the testing kits themselves, and encourage anyone picking up a home testing kit for the first time to also book a test at the site so they have a demonstration of how it is done.

Anyone who wants a rapid test at the centre is advised to book in advance using oxfordshire.gov.uk/covidtest

A home testing kit includes enough tests for two adults to use over two weeks.

Home delivery of testing kits is also available online at the Government's website test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk