A HIT TV show starring a former Hereford college student has already encouraged a surge of people to get tested for HIV, a leading charity has said.

Several people who tested positive for HIV in Herefordshire were diagnosed late and faced an increased risk of death, figures covering a three-year period show.

But sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust says Channel 4 drama It's A Sin, which covers the 1980s AIDS crisis, has helped boost HIV testing, but there is still more work to be done.

Public Health England data shows that out of nine people aged 15 and over who tested positive for HIV in Herefordshire five were diagnosed late between 2017 and 2019.

Across England, 3,870 of 8,979 tests were recorded as a late diagnosis over the same period – 43%.

PHE figures also show that in 2019, 54% of 2,440 people in Herefordshire who used specialist sexual health services missed the opportunity to get tested at a clinic through either not being offered an appointment or by declining.

The Terrence Higgins Trust says HIV testing should be made standard, with checks carried out when a person registers for a GP or attends A&E.

It added that new drama It's a Sin, which has already received 6.5 million views, had already helped with a record number of tests ordered as part of National HIV Testing Week last week.

The five-part television series tells the story of a group of young, gay men in London at the height of the AIDS pandemic.

Terrence Higgins Trust chief executive, Ian Green, said the charity had seen the 'It's a Sin' effect on National HIV Testing Week with tests being ordered faster than ever before off the back of the series, including a surge after [series actor] Olly Alexander, who went to St John's Primary School in Coleford, Monmouth Comprehensive School, Hereford Sixth Form College and Hereford College of Arts, posted encouragement on social media for people to get tested.

PHE says many people diagnosed late have had the infection for at least three years, increasing the likelihood of premature death.

Without treatment, HIV can lead to AIDS, which is a collection of symptoms resulting from a weakened immune system which leaves a person susceptible to life-threatening illnesses.

HIV is passed from person to person through body fluids such as semen or blood and is most commonly caught by having unprotected sex.

It cannot be spread through day-to-day contact like sharing cutlery or kissing.

In Herefordshire, the rate of new HIV diagnosis was no case per 100,000 people aged 15 and over in 2019.

This was below the average across the country, of eight per 100,000.