COVID testing in Worcestershire is a “waste of money” according to a whistleblower who has slammed the way the council has staffed their lateral flow test sites.

The whistleblower, who wished to remain anonymous, previously worked at a testing site in Worcester, and claimed Worcestershire County Council is paying thousands in wages to staff who are “doing nothing.”

According to the whistleblower, some of the sites in the county are seeing just a handful of tests carried out each day, with staff being paid for a full day’s work and being asked to work when they are not required.

They said: “The council is hiring staff via private companies and paying them taxpayers’ money to do nothing.

“The council is totally wasting money paying staff to work on these sites as they are only testing at most 30 people a day, so staff are essentially sitting there being paid to do nothing.”

The whistleblower also said staff are being paid as much as £13 per hour despite often having nothing to do while on-site.

In response, Worcestershire County Council moved to clarify how the sites are being managed.

A spokesman said: “Taking a regular rapid tests is one of the things, alongside vaccination, we can all do to help keep ourselves and those around us safe.

“Our role is to ensure we are able to meet the challenge of providing sufficient capacity for testing across the county, as per the national guidelines, clearly set out by central government.

“To achieve this aim throughout the pandemic, we have ensured provision of a flexible and agile team of workers who can respond to changing demand.

“Demand at our individual testing sites has fluctuated throughout the pandemic as things have moved forward and the number of ways you can access a test has increased.”

Worcestershire County Council has responsibility for lateral flow sites across the county.

All PCR testing is the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Covid testing sites at Sixways Stadium and the White Hart at Fernhill Heath were both closed in February after an “amazing” public response.

More than 6,000 people came forward to be tested for Covid-19 at both sites, with both sites being closed down several days early.

A new testing site is also set to open in Worcestershire this week. Bromsgrove Library will take over as the new location for rapid Covid testing from April 29.

The last day of testing at the current site, The Ryland Centre, will be on April 28.