A new coronavirus testing centre is set to open in Bangor, the Welsh Government has confirmed.

With the exception of community testing and mobile swab units – mainly used by health workers and in outbreak areas –  the nearest facility for those booking an online test in north west Wales has been Llandudno.

For residents in Holyhead this has meant a 44 mile car journey each way, or for those living in Pwllheli, an almost 100 mile round trip for the tests that involve a single dry swab taken from the back of the throat, or a combined throat and nose swab.

But while the Welsh Government says that Conwy county being in local lockdown does not impact on users from non-locked down Anglesey and Gwynedd from being referred to Llandudno, it has confirmed that plans are now in place to open another facility at Bangor University.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said on Friday, “A new local testing centre is due to open at Bangor University within two weeks.

“The local health board also has three mobile testing units and community testing centres in Ysbyty Alltwen and Ysbyty Gwynedd, which can be used to test members of the public in the event of an outbreak in the area.”

The move comes after concerns were raised by politicians in Gwynedd and Anglesey that residents were facing substantial trips to Llandudno, or even further afield when being referred by the NHS website.

Arfon MP Hywel Williams pointed out that while Gwynedd is the largest county in north Wales, it did not possess a single public testing site.

Having taken the test twice himself, on the second occasion he had to undertake a 120 mile solo round trip to Deeside Industrial Park while travelling through what are now four locked-down counties.

“Fortunately, the test came back negative, but I had quite bad flu-like symptoms,” he said.

“It was very difficult, and I was not well at all the following day.

‘That was my experience. People who are sicker and less able than I was have to contend with the same problem.

“The alternatives I was offered were Aberystwyth and Newtown.”

While some provisions already exist for testing NHS and key workers – with Bangor students having their own on-campus facility – he urged the need for an “accessible, local facility” for Gwynedd and Anglesey.

Sian Gwenllian MS had urged the Welsh Government to “make good on their promise” that every person should have access to a testing facility within 20 miles of their home.

Island MP, Virginia Crosbie, said she had also written to the Welsh Government after receving several enquiries from constituents, claiming it was creating “an even greater social divide between those who have the financial or social resources to access testing and those who do not.”

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, meanwhile, claimed that the Welsh Government had “made a mistake in opting to over-depend on UK testing systems”  which have been “fraught with problems.”

The Ynys Mon member added, “Welsh Ministers backed UK Government’s decision that Llandudno should be our ‘local’ test centre, and that testing in Wales should be done by UK Lighthouse Laboratories, which just can’t cope.

“Capacity should have been built up here – capacity which Welsh Government could have controlled.

“It’s the most vulnerable who are suffering. Those without cars or support networks, but it has to be accessible to all.”