Door-to-door Covid-19 testing getsunderway in Leek West and Cheddleton today (Thursday), in a bid to test around 10,000 people for the Delta Variant of Concern.

It comes after more than 100 cases of the Delta variant linked to some schools in the area were identified.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, alongside volunteers will be going door-to-door in Leek West before moving to Cheddleton on Friday (18 June) to deliver the PCR tests, which will be collected the same day.

Any positive tests will be sent for genotyping to identify the variant of concern. This will then help Staffordshire County Council to trace and isolate contacts to prevent the virus spreading further.

Extra testing is already being carried out over the past two weeks, and there is a further community testing taking place at Sainsbury's in Churnet Way, Leek on Friday, 10am to 12noon.

Home testing kits can also be picked up from Brough Park Leisure Centre until Friday, and dropped off at the same location.

Testing is also taking place in some local schools in the area.

Dr Johnny McMahon, Cabinet Support Member for Health and Integrated Care at Staffordshire County Council said: "The door-to-door testing we're carrying out on Thursday and Friday is the latest step to discover and isolate more cases of the Delta variant.

"The additional testing we have been doing has already started to reduce the number of new cases of infection.

"The more people we can test the greater our chances of preventing further spread of the virus.

"We have seen a fantastic response from the community so far and I would ask residents to keep it up and that all households who are offered a test take part it."

Rich Williams, Station Manager at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "We're more than happy to be supporting our partners in the fight against the Delta variant.

"We'll be going door-to-door on Thursday and Friday, and we're hoping for a good turnout from local people.

"We're hoping to reach as many people as we can over the next two days, identify more potential cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and ultimately, stop it in its tracks."