An app which tracks people with coronavirus symptoms has predicted the extent of the virus in the Staffordshire Moorlands compared to the rest of the country.

The COVID symptom tracker app, which was designed by researchers at King's College London, estimates the number of cases in each region of the UK based on data from over 3.9 million users.

In the Staffordshire Moorlands, the app currently predicts that there are 740 active cases of Coronavirus per one million population.

Since the population of the Moorlands is around 100,000, this would mean that there are approximately 74 active cases in the district today.

Those figure place the district at the higher end of regions across the UK when it comes to infection rates, although the Moorlands is still performing better than some of its neighbouring areas.

The app puts Stoke-on-Trent, for example, at 1,089 active cases per million people, while Newcastle-under-Lyme is one of the very worst infected areas in the UK, with an estimated 1,997 cases per million.

On a national scale, the app currently predicts that there are 23,042 people with symptomatic coronavirus in the UK, with 1,471 new cases being recorded daily.

The researchers hope that the app could quickly detect potential local outbreaks such as the one seen in Leicester, and prevent the need to introduce more regional lockdowns.

Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London, said: "It is disappointing to see that the number of daily new cases is no longer falling as they have been in previous weeks.

"This could be a temporary blip due to the easing of lockdown and the amount of social contact slowly increasing.

"Importantly, our updated analysis of the prevalence [of coronavirus] is still continuing to show that The Midlands and Wales are key areas in the country where the amount of COVID is remaining relatively high. It is important to keep a close eye on these areas."

He added: "With the growing number of people suffering for extended periods of time, we are going to be focusing on these long-term sufferers to help us research causes and potential treatments.

"But in order for this to be possible, we need all of our users to continue to log in, if they have been ill and have got better."

To find out more about the app and view the latest figures, click here.