A woman with coronavirus symptoms said she had to get out of her car and speak to others in a similar situation amid confusion about a mobile Covid testing site in High Wycombe at the weekend.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it was “disappointing” that those trying to get tested for the potentially deadly virus encountered a string of issues when arriving at the supposed mobile testing site at Bucks New University on Sunday.

One woman told the Bucks Free Press that the situation was chaotic, with streams of cars on Queen Alexandra Road waiting to get tested – but no testing staff were there to help them.

A DHSC spokesman blamed an “error” which meant a “very small number” of testing sites were put at the wrong locations.

Kelly Ostler-Coyle said there were around 20 cars waiting to get into the testing site at the university, but no one could find out where they needed to go.

She said she was forced to get out of her car and use the intercom to speak to security – only to find out that the people running the test centre had not turned up.

All the while the stream of drivers arriving at the site for testing got larger.

She said it was “really not great” that people who were unwell were having to get out of their vehicles, speak to one another and walk around the university campus looking for where they needed to go.

The university site was hired by another operator who were to be running the testing facilities. The university itself played no part in what those trying to get a test described as an “utter shambles”.

Buckinghamshire Council is also not involved with the testing sites, other than to help arrange locations.

A DHSC spokesman said text messages were supposedly sent out to those who had tests booked advising them of the change in location.

They added that the issue is being “looked at” to prevent it from happening again.

They said: “It is disappointing to hear of someone having a poor experience accessing testing.

“NHS Test and Trace is working and the overwhelming majority of people report no issues with the process, with support available via 119 should anyone need it.

“Over 17 million tests have been delivered so far and we are aiming to grow capacity to 500,000 tests per day by the end of October.”

There have been ongoing problems with the government’s test and trace programme in England this week, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying the testing programme is “on the verge of collapse” as many people struggled to even book a slot online.

A senior official at NHS Test and Trace issued an apology on Twitter to residents unable to book a test – but said testing sites have capacity, and the issue is laboratory processing which she said was the “critical pinch-point”.