GPs have seen a rise of almost 50 per cent in the number of people contacting them in the last week fearing that they have swine flu, new figures suggest.

About 40,000 people a week in England and Wales are now complaining to their doctor of a flu-like illness, with a huge rise in the number of  children affected.

But today a leading Shropshire doctor said that although practices were under pressure they were “on top” of the situation.

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There are also no immediate plans in Shropshire to open distribution centres for anti-viral drugs.

The Royal College of GPs’ monitoring system showed 50.3 people per 100,000 reported flu-like illness between June 29 and July 5. This rose 46 per cent to 73.4 per 100,000 between July 6 and 12.

Almost one in eight workers is likely to be at home with the virus in the next few weeks, according to Government figures due to be released today. This could leave many firms struggling.

Dr Andy Inglis, of the Sutton Hill Medical Practice, Telford, said: “Practices are busy but they are on top of it.”

Dr Inglis, who is chairman of the professional executive at NHS Telford and Wrekin, urged people to buy thermometers to test their temperature as this would help doctors to assess whether callers had swine flu.

He said the number of pharmacies able to deal with Tamiflu prescriptions was being increased.

At a national level GPs have criticised the Government, accusing it of providing conflicting advice to both doctors and patients. Doctors have complained of poor out-of-hours planning, confusion over prescribing Tamiflu and a lack of knowledge over how long patients should stay at home.