Two-thirds of the public want local public health teams to be in charge of the contact tracing system, a new poll has revealed.

The research, commissioned by We Own It, found 67% of people surveyed want the system managed and delivered in the public sector.

Only 15% of those surveyed said a private outsourcing company should run the system.

Pascale Robinson, campaigns officer at We Own It, said: 'If we’re to get out of lockdown safely, to see friends and family, and hug our loved ones again we need an effective track and trace programme.

'The way to deliver this is with local public health teams and local health services - the people who’ve got the experience of doing contact tracing - in charge. That would be a system the public could have faith in, and that would deliver the coherent response we desperately need.'

How can COVID-19 testing and tracing best harness the experience and expertise of councils, and how ready is local government for the next phase of easing lockdown? Ann McGauran reports.