An elderly couple were invited to make a round trip of up to 80 miles to get jabbed for coronavirus - despite living within walking distance of a centre near their home in Sittingbourne.

Instead of directing them to the Age UK vaccination centre in the Avenue of Remembrance, Dorothy Greenhill, 72, and her husband John, 71, a retired magistrates’ clerk, were given a list of 29 venues, including Folkestone (26 miles away), Dagenham (28 miles), the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands (32 miles) and north west London (39 miles).

The closest was Chatham, nine miles away.

Mr Greenhill, of College Road, said: “It is absurd. We couldn’t believe it. The letter said we could wait until we were invited by our GP or we could use a computer or phone to book. I was astounded when I looked at the venues we were being offered. There was no mention of the Age UK centre or The Chestnuts surgery in East Street.

“I really don’t know how they think we could get there when we don’t have a car. We would be expected to use public transport at exactly the same time the government is telling us all to stay home.

“We have now decided to wait but our surgery in London Road just tells us we will be contacted when it has some vaccines.”

He added: “I thought the letter was some kind of joke or a hoax at first but it appears not. There are so many assumptions, the first being that everyone has a computer at their disposal, which I have, and a second that everyone has a motor car, which I do not as a non-motorist.

“But it did occur to me that the whole thing gave reality to the old adage about the inability to organise a celebratory occasion in a brewing establishment.

“What happens now I simply don't know. Age Concern is in walking distance from my home. Perhaps the powers that be are just waiting for some of us simply to drop off our perches?”

Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson said: "I am receiving a large number of emails regarding vaccination appointments being offered 'out of area' where residents are unable to travel.

"The NHS letters are for mass vaccination hubs which are designed to serve people in the top priority categories and who live within a 65-mile radius. It can provide them with a vaccination earlier than they otherwise might expect.

"The hubs are intended to complement rather than replace local services such as the Age UK centre which is administered by the NHS GP Primary Care Network (PCN) in Sittingbourne.

"The letter makes it clear that people do not have to book an appointment at one of the centres offered. Instead, they can wait to be contacted for an appointment at their local PCN centre in the usual way.

"However, those willing and able may choose to travel to the larger hubs which will take pressure off the local centres."

Both the Age UK centre in Heather House and The Chestnuts surgery had to stop when they ran out of vaccine last week but fresh supplies arrived yesterday. Injections were expected to begin again today.

Full list of alternative venues:

Chatham 9 miles; Gravesham 16 miles; Rayleigh 17 miles; Grays 19 miles; Wickford 21 miles; Folkestone 26 miles; Dagenham 28 miles; Eltham 30 miles; Woolwich 30 miles; Charlton 30 miles; East Ham 31 miles; ExCel Centre 32 miles; Catford 32 miles; Lewisham 32 miles; Forest Gate 33 miles; Stratford 34 miles; Tower Hamlets 34 miles; Crystal Palace 35 miles; Woodford 35 miles; Norwood 35 miles; Clapton 36 miles; Hackney 36 miles; Walthamstow 36 miles; Brixton 36 miles; Streatham 37 miles; Islington 37 miles; Westminster 37 miles; Tottenham 38 miles and NW1 39 miles.

Read more: All the latest news from Sittingbourne