THE Director of Public Health at Darlington Borough Council says it is 'absolutely fantastic' that the town was chosen for a mass Covid vaccination site.

The site at Mowden Arena offers an alternative choice for people to their local GP vaccination service which is already operating throughout the borough.

Penny Spring said the mass site would help vaccinate 'so many more people' per day, adding: "It will really help us get as people vaccinated as quickly as possible so it is a really big plus, a great opportunity for Darlington."

She added: "It is NHS England who have developed this opportunity for Darlington residents and the really important thing is that if people do get offered vaccinations that they take them."

Ms Spring said that NHS England chose the Darlington site 'for all the right reasons' and she praised the efforts of everyone involved in the vaccine programme after seeing first hand as a volunteer at the Feethams site how much it meant to people receiving their jabs.

She said: "It is such a heart-warming experience. There were people who hadn't been out at all over the last 12-months and it has been like a ray of sunshine for them.

"And I think that is such a positive outcome for Darlington."