Residents in all five of Lilian Faithfull Care's homes in Gloucestershire have been offered the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

Faithfull House in Cheltenham was one of the first six care homes in England to be visited and more than 200 residents (97 per cent) have received the vaccine at the five venues.

Lilian Faithfull Care staff were among the first to be vaccinated at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

And 50 per cent of staff at Faithfull House, Astell House, St Faith's and Royal Court in Cheltenham and Resthaven in Stroud have also been vaccinated.

Chief executive Martin Hughes said: "This is the light at the end of the tunnel.

"This protection, that our residents and teams have embraced, is making our care homes some of the safest places to live and work in the county. It is credit to the teams in the homes and testament to our relationship with our incredible partners, our GP's and practice teams at the surgeries, that we are at the forefront of battling this virus."

The vaccine was delivered by St Paul's Medical Centre and Overton Park, Royal Well and Painswick surgeries.

Faithfull House deputy manager and clinical lead James Mitchell said: "It's been thrilling to see the partnership working between our charity and all the community services.

"Seeing everyone come together the way they have to deliver what is essentially a historic vaccine for our residents has been incredible."

Appropriate permissions was sought from residents and their families for the non-compulsory vaccinations.

One said: "It was quick and easy, it's like all these things that you can get worried about them but it's nothing to worry about."

And another resident offered a concise summing up: "It went very well. No problems."