A mass vaccination centre at Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol will open next week.

It is one of seven hubs across England to begin operations next week, Downing Street has confirmed.

The first contingent of army logistics officers were seen arriving at the stadium at the end of November to begin the conversion.

Hubs will also be set up in London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Surrey and Stevenage, Number 10 said.

Venues including the Etihad Tennis Centre in Manchester, Epsom Racecourse in Surrey, Robertson House in Stevenage, the Centre for Life in Newcastle and Millennium Point in Birmingham. will be converted into regional centres in an attempt to meet the Government target of vaccinating 14 million people UK-wide by February.

Speaking from Downing Street on Monday night, the Prime Minister said: "By the middle of February, if things go well and with a fair wind in our sails, we expect to have offered the first vaccine dose to everyone in the four top priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

"If we succeed in vaccinating all those groups, we will have removed huge numbers of people from the path of the virus.

"And of course, that will eventually enable us to lift many of the restrictions we've endured for so long."

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing that the centres will also include

The centres are expected to be staffed with a combination of NHS staff and volunteers, the spokesman added.