Rapid coronavirus test trials which were due to be used in Liverpool as part of 'Operation Moonshot' missed more than 50 per cent of positive cases

Trials of a rapid coronavirus test which had been due to be used in Liverpool found it missed more than 50 per cent of positive cases.

The test, which gives results in 20 minutes, was planned to form part of an 'Operation Moonshot' mass-testing programme in the city.

But earlier trials in Salford were scaled back after just six weeks, in part due to concerns about the accuracy of the OptiGene Lamp test, according to The Guardian.

Greater Manchester's Mass Testing Expert Group raised concerns about the accuracy of the test, which is favoured in hospitals because of its quick turnaround of results. 

The test, which gives results in 20 minutes, was planned to form part of an 'Operation Moonshot' mass-testing programme in the city (stock picture)

But earlier trials in Salford were scaled back after just six weeks, in part due to concerns about the accuracy of the OptiGene Lamp test (stock picture)

The scientists reported a 'sensitivity' of just 46.7 per cent and found that 'a high proportion of samples collected from infected individuals in a 'real world' setting would not be detected'.

The findings raise major questions about one of the main tests in the Government's mass-screening strategy, which Boris Johnson this week heralded as the UK's main route back to normality.

However, a spokesman for the Department of Health last night said the apparently alarming results of the Lamp test were based on one small trial. 

Liverpool City Council said that it had decided not to use the test.