A CAR park has become home to a makeshift health clinic as volunteers have had health checks and given blood at a mobile van.

Residents living nearby were invited to drop-in to the large van, parked next to Pitchcroft, as part of a major research project into people's health. 

The van was parked in Croft Road car park for nearly a month as one of 24 new clinics opened by the UK’s largest health research programme, Our Future Health.

Attendance at the site was voluntary, with people going to have a blood sample and some physical measurements taken.

2,428 people visited the Worcester clinic.

The volunteers were also offered information about their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Working in collaboration with the NHS, the charity aims to transform the prevention, detection and treatment of conditions such as dementia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Dr Raghib Ali, Chief Medical Officer of Our Future Health, said: “With each new clinic opening, we want to give even more people the opportunity to take part in Our Future Health, particularly people who have never done anything like this before.

"These are the people who will benefit the most from our programme, because their participation will enable us to make new discoveries about disease within their communities.

"By encouraging people from every background to take part, we can make discoveries that benefit everyone.” 

With up to five million volunteers right across the UK, the goal is to create one of the most detailed pictures ever of people’s health.