It is one of several new installations being opened up to help meet the target of testing 100,000 people per day. The move comes as a temporary solution to relieve pressure on the NHS.

An army of volunteers attached to the university including PhD students, research assistants and post-doctoral students registered their interest “almost instantly”, those running the lab said.

The site is using a heat technology to inactivate the samples before they are opened without changing the outcome of the tests.

The technology prevents risk of contracting the disease should the lab run out of personal protective equipment (PPE).

As well as inspecting nasal and throat samples, the scientists have been working on alternative reagents used in the testing process after the outbreak caused a shortage in international stock.

Some of these chemicals are awaiting authorisation.

Earlier this month, the Institute of Biomedical Science said the lack of testing kits and reagents was the biggest impediment to achieving testing targets, rather than lab space.

It also warned the newly opened testing sites could end up competing with established NHS labs for resources unless solutions were found.

Dr Michael Malim, head of the School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences at King’s College London, said the testing ground was working to create “resilience and flexibility” into the testing procedure.

READ MORE: Express readers say THIS should reopen first if lockdown lifted

“Within the horror of the pandemic, we have found that people really want to help. It’s a ray of light.”

King’s College London is the latest university to open up a test diagnostics lab.

After the Francis Crick Institute set up its repurposed testing ground earlier this month, its director Paul Nurse said: “Institutes like ours are coming together with a Dunkirk spirit – small boats that collectively can have a huge impact on the national endeavour.”

He added: “Staff from across the Crick have rapidly pulled together to make this happen, and we are very grateful to them.”

A test processing lab opened up at the University of Cambridge with pharmaceutical conglomerates AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline has a target 30,000 tests analysed by early May.

The University of Glasgow also followed suit, setting up a processing lab under the Government’s Lighthouse Lab scheme at its Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus which opened on Wednesday.

Other Lighthouse Lab sites include one at the life science research and development facilities at Alderley Park in Cheshire, and in Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire.

The news comes as the UK sees its number of coronavirus deaths in hospitals dropped to 413 on Sunday.

The new figure is the lowest tally this month and marks a 58 percent reduction on the peak.