Brendan Rodgers has described Dominic Solanke as "a fantastic talent" and says he can understand why the Chelsea striker has been linked with Celtic.

"I know Dominic well," said the Celtic boss of the 19-year-old. "I took Dominic into Chelsea when he was eight years of age.
"It is unfortunate it looks like he is not going to renew his contract at Chelsea.
"I can see where there is a connection with him, but nothing more than that."
Rodgers did admit that Celtic were the kind of club that would be a good next step for someone like Solanke.
He pointed to the example of 32-goal striker Moussa Dembele, who moved to Celtic from Fulham last summer for a smaller development fee than would have been the case had he moved to a rival club in England, and on-loan Manchester City winger Patrick Roberts.
"This is a huge club that will attract players no matter, but the compensation situation up here means it is a very attractive offer for a young player, his family and an agent to think you can come out of England maybe and come up to a huge club," said Rodgers.
"You only need to look at Moussa's development this year, you only have to look at Patrick Roberts' development over the last 18 months.
"He [Roberts] leaves here to Manchester City a winner. He has his hands on trophies, playing in Champions League football and playing in big games and he's learning to become a winner.
"There is a huge attraction here for any young player."
Rodgers said that young players, like Solanke, leaving top academies in England were attractive targets for Celtic.
"Unfortunately, there is only so many of them that can play in the first team, but there is a raft of talent and it would be silly for us not to tap into that when the right profile of player becomes available," he said.
"I am delighted for Dominic and the career that he's had up to now as a young player.
"He is a fantastic talent and Chelsea is a great club, but he deems maybe that his future lies elsewhere."
With third-choice Logan Bailly poised to leave Celtic this summer, Rodgers was asked if he was likely to sign a senior replacement or look to promote from within.
"I've got some brilliant young keepers in here," said the manager.
"We've got Craig Gordon, clearly our number one goalkeeper and has been outstanding, Dorus de Vries in behind him, a very experienced number two goalkeeper.
"I've then got two young goalkeepers, Conor Hazard and Ross Doohan - both outstanding talents, under 19.
"Within our system here we have real talent that we want to develop and improve, so certainly we are not looking beyond what we have at the moment."
Eighteen-year-olds Michael Johnston and Anthony Ralston featured in Celtic's 4-1 win over St Johnstone on Saturday, with winger Johnston making his debut.
And Rodgers said of the duo: "The critical period for them is getting ready for pre-season, because they will come into my squad, I can have a real close look at them and see if they are ready to come in and feature more regularly.
"If not, it might mean they go out [on loan]."


Bibiana Steinhaus is set to become the first female to referee in Germany's top level of football, the Bundesliga.

The new season is due to get underway soon, so what do we know about Bibiana Steinhaus?
Speaking about her new role, she said...


A man who offered to pay a "hitman" £150,000 to kill his wife, says he had no intention of going through with it and was only researching for his novel.

David Harris, 68, denies three counts of soliciting to murder Hazel Allinson, a former TV scriptwriter for The Bill.
He told jurors at the Old Bailey he had become "besotted" with a younger woman in a brothel and spent £50,000 on her.
When the money ran out he was "inspired to write a thriller", to recoup his expenses, the court heard.
The prosecution alleged Mr Harris wanted Ms Allinson's money and full ownership of the £800,000 home they shared in Amberley, West Sussex.
Mr Harris told the jury earlier he had offered a man posing as a hitman £150,000 to kill his wealthy partner as research for his book.
Unbeknown to Mr Harris the contact was an undercover policeman.
The defendant told the jury: "I said I wanted my wife killed - which is not true.
"The figure of £150,000 was mentioned by me, bearing in mind I have no money and I wanted to get this person on side to help me with my story."
Mr Harris told the jury: "He said: 'Yeah, for that kind of money, I will go down there now and shoot her.'
"I said: 'Of course not, you cannot do something like that. It has to be planned'."
The contact said for £175,000 he would "do it now", the court heard.
They allegedly discussed scenarios including a potential mugging or carjacking, before Mr Harris returned home to enjoy a fish supper, watching Strictly Come Dancing, with Ms Allinson.
Mr Harris said: "What I needed for my book was a fatal murder."
He had apparently ruled out any sort of car accident because there was no guarantee that would ensure death.
The couple first met in 1989 when they were both working on The Bill. Ms Allinson had saved him from alcohol addiction and he retired through "ill health" in 2006, Mr Harris said.
Ms Allinson gave him a monthly allowance of between £300-£400.
He told jurors on Wednesday he still had an "active libido" and visited brothels to fulfil his sexual needs.
He met his mistress Ugne Cekaviciute in Worthing and said: "I had become besotted with her. I thought that she was too young and too nice to be in a brothel."
He took her to expensive restaurants and hotels and spent all the money Ms Allison gave him.
Jurors heard he wanted to be with Ms Cekaviciute but was "very stressed" about his finances.
The trial continues.


Health Secretary Tom Price has defended the arrest of a reporter who had been questioning him during a visit to the West Virginia statehouse.

The officers "did what they felt was appropriate, and we thank them for the work that they do," he told reporters.
Dan Heyman was charged with "willful disruption of governmental processes" after he shouted questions to Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and Mr Price.
Mr Heyman later said: "This is my job, this is what I'm supposed to do".
During remarks on the opioid epidemic in the state of New Hampshire, Mr Price said: "I want to commend the West Virginia Capitol police."
He added that "it's important to appreciate that gentleman was not in a press conference, we were walking down a hall and the Capitol police acted as they felt necessary".
The health reporter for the Public News Service had been repeatedly asking if domestic violence would be considered a pre-existing condition under the proposed Republican healthcare overhaul, which Mr Price has been spearheading.
He had been wearing his press badge and a shirt identifying his media organisation when he was arrested, taken to jail, and later released on a $5,000 (Â£3,900) bond.
Police inside West Virginia's Capitol building said Mr Heyman was "aggressively" attempting to get past Secret Service agents as he shouted his questions on Tuesday night.
After his release from jail, he told reporters: "I think it's a question that deserves to be answered.
"I think it's my job to ask questions and I think it's my job to try to get answers."
In a recording that Mr Heyman made and provided to the Washington Post, he is heard telling the arresting police officers that he is a reporter.
"You want to beat me up and end up on the news tonight?" he says to one officer who responds with the words "calm down, relax".
"You know those people are there for a reason," the officer says in the recording.
"Yeah, well what do you think I'm there for?" Mr Heyman replies.
The American Civil Liberties Union, who have been defending Mr Heyman, said that "today is a dark day for democracy. But the rule of law will prevail".
They add that Freedom of Speech "rights are not confined to a press conference".


Hull City midfielder Jake Livermore was in "a dark place" when he tested positive for cocaine after the death of his newborn child in May 2014, Tigers boss Steve Bruce has said.

England international Livermore, 25, will find out his punishment at a hearing at the end of the month.
The Football Association could ban the player for two years.
"Unfortunately he lost his baby just after the FA Cup final last year," Bruce told BBC Radio Humberside.
"Jake has kept all of the problems that he had to himself. All footballers think they are macho-men but they have problems like everybody else.
"He has got to serve his punishment because he has done wrong and there is no disputing that, but there are obviously some circumstances that make you see he has been in a dark place for a long, long time. There's no question it was a mitigating factor.
"He has been seeking help and been seeing some good people so we hope there will be a positive outcome at the end of the month."
Livermore joined Hull from Spurs in August 2014 after a successful season-long loan with the club.
He made 35 league appearances last season as the Tigers were relegated to the Championship.
Bruce added:  "I think he expects to be punished and that's only too right, but then we have to look at the bigger picture and try and help the lad if we possibly can.
"People think because they are professional footballers they've got the world; they have problems just like everybody else does. Unfortunately with Jake he's had  problems and possibly didn't seek the help that he needed at the time."


TV critics are full of praise for the finale of sitcom Miranda, which has bowed out after five years.

Fans got the happy ending they had been waiting for as the title character, created by Miranda Hart, got married.
The New Year's Day episode had 7.3m viewers, according to overnight figures.
The first part of the finale, shown on Christmas Day, had 6.7m viewers overnight.
Writing in The Independent, Neela Debnath said Miranda had drawn to a close "with a sweet and heart-warming ending".
"It's surprisingly touching and quite tender - that's not to say there aren't any pratfalls - but the finale is about Miranda standing up to her mother and accepting herself as she is."
Gerard O'Donovan, writing for The Telegraph, said: "New Year's Day brought all the humour and joy we could have wanted in a masterclass of romantic comedy writing and performance that teased and toyed, then delivered big on the happy ending, with a wedding."
Mark Lawson, writing in The Guardian, said: "As admirers had hoped, Miranda ended up on the floor twice in her comedy send-offs.
"But her expanding career, of which her inventive and well-acted sitcom is only a small part, suggests that her detractors are unlikely to get their wish of her falling metaphorically flat on her face."
Before the final show aired, Hart tweeted: "Happy New Year Day and goodbye to my creative baby day. 8pm BBC One. Can't promise but you MIGHT get a glimpse of that @GaryBarlow."
The show, which was first shown on BBC Two in 2009 before moving to BBC One, follows the trials and tribulations of Hart's character, a shop owner prone to committing social faux pas.
The programme also sees Patricia Hodge as her TV alter-ego's mother and Sarah Hadland as her shop's assistant manager.
The show, and its star, has won accolades from the Royal Television Society and the British Comedy Awards, among others.
The first episode of the third series was the most-watched television programme at Christmas in 2012.
The 41-year-old actress and comedienne is to star alongside Jude Law and Melissa McCarthy in American comedy Spy.
The film, directed by Bridesmaids' Paul Feig, is due to be released in UK cinemas in May.
An autobiographical book about Hart's life with her dog Peggy, Peggy And Me, will be also released this year.


Silver 12th Century coins found in a field in Derbyshire have been declared treasure by a coroner.

The 10 coins were unearthed by several metal detectorists in 2014 and date from the reigns of King Stephen and King Henry II.
Historians believe they were probably originally in a purse dropped by a trader and amounted to about a week's wages.
The coroner's decision paves the way for a museum to acquire them.
The exact location of the hoard cannot be revealed but was in a field near Clowne, which historians say was sparsely populated in the medieval period.
The oldest of the coins dates from 1154 - the last year of King Stephen's reign - while the the rest date from the early years of King Henry II's reign.
They were struck at different mints around the country, with several made in Lincoln and the others from Oxford, London, York, Winchester, Bury St Edmunds and Thetford.
Gareth Williams, curator of early medieval coins at the British Museum, said: "It's a not inconsiderable amount of money - perhaps a week's wages - it would have meant quite a lot to whoever lost it," he said.
"This find gives a bit of a picture of what's going on commercially. The presence of several different mints is not a surprise, any market trader in Worksop would probably have a similar selection of mints from around England."
He estimates the purse was lost in the late 1150s or the 1160s during a period of relative stability, further evidence the coins may have been lost accidentally rather than buried to save for a later date.
The find is not considered of national importance - the British Museum does not want to acquire the coins - but it is rare for the East Midlands.
"We don't get an awful lot of hoards from this period - maybe two or three in the last 20 years," Mr Williams said.
Dr Williams said this was partly because there were not many people living there in the 12th Century, but also because areas such as Norfolk, Essex and Lincolnshire had a reputation for hoards of treasure, attracting metal dectorists.
The hoard now becomes the property of the crown and a valuation committee will determine what the coins are worth.
If a museum wants the collection, it has the chance to reserve them and is given time to raise the money.
Any object that is at least 300 years old when found and:


The sale of Orders of Service from Richard III's reinterment on the internet has prompted an appeal from church authorities.

The king's coffin was put into a vault in Leicester Cathedral during a reinterment service on Thursday, with the tomb unveiled the day after.
But now some service booklets have been offered for as much as Â£200 on eBay.
Cathedral officials said those wanting a memento could buy a set of all three booklets for just Â£12.50.
Richards's skeleton was found beneath a Leicester car park in August 2012.
Despite a legal challenge, it was reburied in the cathedral during a week of events.
There were three main services in the cathedral - one to receive the coffin, one of reinterment and one of Reveal, when the sealed tomb was unveiled.
Thursday's reinterment was attended by the Countess of Wessex and actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
On Saturday, the Diocese of Leicester took to social media to advise people against buying Orders of Service and the Dean, David Monteith, backed this up.
He said: "You can't deal with death without recognising the shadowy side of individuals, that's just how it is.
"But we were slightly ahead of the game, as we had more service booklets printed than we needed and all three can be bought from the cathedral.
"They cost Â£12.50 for three, with nobody exploited, just covering our costs and a little bit going back into the life of the cathedral."


Kyle Edmund saw off Davis Cup team-mate Dan Evans in straight sets in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Edmund, ranked one place below Evans at 45 in the world, recovered from a slow start to win 7-5 6-1.
The 22-year-old from Yorkshire, who rates clay as his favourite surface, will play nine-time Monte Carlo champion Rafael Nadal in round two.
Andy Murray, who watched compatriots Edmund and Evans from courtside, plays his opening match on Wednesday.
The world number one will take on Luxembourg's Gilles Muller or Tommy Robredo of Spain.
Edmund and Evans were Davis Cup team-mates in Britain's quarter-final defeat by France earlier this month, but were pitted against each other for the first time on the ATP Tour in Monte Carlo.
The surface made the big-hitting Edmund a heavy favourite against Evans, who has just two main draw wins to his name on the surface.
However, Edmund opened with two double faults and looked nervous, slipping 4-1 down as Evans capitalised on the errors.
The 26-year-old from Birmingham could not maintain his advantage though, with Edmund fighting back to claim the set with the seventh break of serve in 12 games.
Edmund had to save break points again at the start of the second but, despite some wayward smashes, went on to dominate, sealing it with an ace after one hour and 20 minutes.


Salford Red Devils winger Mason Caton-Brown will be out for up to 12 weeks with a serious leg injury.

Caton-Brown, 22, will undergo surgery following a tackle by Huddersfield's Danny Brough in Monday's 26-24 win.
The tackle was cited, but after viewing the incident, the RFL decided not to take any action towards Brough.
"We're not happy about it. We've asked the RFL to look at the incident. They have come back telling us it's legal," head coach Ian Watson said.
"From our point of view, we're really disappointed with what they've come back with as we've lost a good player."
Caton-Brown was making his first appearance of the season for Salford since coming back from injury, but now faces another lengthy spell out.
"He has only just come back from an injury, he's been out for a long time," Watson told BBC Radio Manchester, "He's a really nice kid and in your first game back to go down like that when you're playing so well is a big loss."
Salford moved up to seventh in Super League following Monday's win, which was marred when fighting broke out among a section of Salford fans at full-time.


Scott Williams has been dropped to the bench for Wales' second tour Test, against Samoa in Apia on Friday.

Scarlets centre Williams, who has won 47 caps, sees his starting place taken by Dragons' Tyler Morgan amid seven starting changes.
Ospreys lock Rory Thornton makes his debut with uncapped team-mate second row Adam Beard on the bench.
Cardiff Blues scrum-half Tomos Williams could also make his debut off the bench as understudy to Aled Davies.
Cory Allen replaces the injured Alex Cuthbert on the wing, so Ospreys' Keelan Giles must wait until the 2017-18 season to continue his challenge for a Wales cap.
Scrum-half Aled Davies, hooker Ryan Elias, tight-head prop Dillon Lewis and second row Thornton replace controversial Lions call-ups Gareth Davies, Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis and Cory Hill respectively.
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Aled Davies, Elias and Lewis made their Test debut in Wales' win over Tonga in Auckland last Friday.
Open-side flanker Ellis Jenkins takes over from Thomas Young who drops to the bench.
Tour coach Robin McBryde said: "We've heard throughout the week from local people how much Samoa values Wales as a rugby nation, and there's a weight of history behind that.
"That said, we've been reinforcing the message to the players that there will be nothing friendly about Friday's match.
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"Samoa will be smarting from their outing last Friday night at Eden Park against the All Blacks [where they lost 78-0 to Steve Hansen's side].
"We've got to be braced for a backlash, a partisan crowd, and look to keep building on the good things we showed in our win against Tonga.
"Training has been hard and the players have been extremely focused, knowing they've got one last chance this season to give a good account of themselves for their country."
Samoa have won four of the nine matches between the two sides, including famous World Cup wins in Cardiff in 1991 and 1999, as well as a comfortable 34-9 victory at home in Apia the last time Wales toured the Pacific Islands in 1994.
The Pacific Islanders make six changes and a positional switch against Wales, with fit-again Cardiff Blues centre Rey Lee-Lo among those coming in.
Lee-Lo will link up with Osprey Kieron Fonotia in midfield.
Bristol wing David Lemi is also back after injury, reclaiming the captaincy from Bath scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i.
Experienced Toulouse prop Census Johnston is missing for personal reasons, but is replaced by another French-based player in Stade Francais' Paul Alo-Emile.
Wellington Lions player Galu Taufale, 30, makes his debut at open-side flanker.
Other changes bring in D'Angelo Leuila at full-back and Alafoti Faosiliva at number eight, while Bristol's Alapati Leuia switches from centre to wing in place of the injured Albert Nikoro.
Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues); Cory Allen (Ospreys), Tyler Morgan (Dragons), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins, capt), Steffan Evans (Scarlets); Sam Davies (Ospreys), Aled Davies (Scarlets); Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Blues), Seb Davies (Blues), Rory Thornton (Ospreys), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Ellis Jenkins (Blues), Josh Navidi (Blues).
Replacements: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Rhodri Jones (Ospreys), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Thomas Young (Wasps), Tomos Williams (Blues), Owen Williams (Gloucester), Scott Williams (Scarlets).
D'Angelo Leuila; Alapati Leiua, Kieron Fonotia, Reynold Lee-Lo, David Lemi (capt); Tusi Pisi, Kahn Fotuali'i; Viliamu Afatia, Maatulimanu Leiataua, Paul Alo-Emile, Chris Vui, Faatiga Lemalu, Piula Faasalele, Galu Taufale, Fata Alafoti Faosiliva.
Replacements:  Seilala Lam, Nephi Leatigaga, Bronson Fotualii-Tauakipulu, Faifili Levave, Vavae Tuilagi, Dwayne Polataivao, Henry Taefu, Tila Mealoi.


A woman was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after falling 20ft (6.09m) down a sheer drop in north Wales.

The climber, who is her 30s, fell at Offa's Dyke near Llangollen, Denbighshire, on Sunday.
An RAF rescue helicopter from Valley on Anglesey airlifted her to a major trauma centre at a hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.
North East Wales Search and Rescue team assisted the rescue.


Fluctuat nec mergitur - that is the Latin motto on the coat of arms of Paris meaning, 'Buffeted (by waves) but not sunk.'

These words have appeared more in Paris in recent days on signs, walls and the Eiffel Tower, marking people's resilience after the attacks of a week ago today.
People have been going back to work, and going out to bars and restaurants.
Here, Parisians describe the night of the attacks and how they have been trying to return to normality.
Marine lives a few kilometres away from the Bataclan music hall where many of the victims died.
"I heard police sirens near the Bataclan and I watched the story unfold on TV.
"I couldn't believe this was happening so close to me.
"I asked myself why the Bataclan and at the bars and restaurants.
"Then I realised that was what the terrorists wanted."
Marine works at Disneyland Paris and had to go in to work the day after the attacks.
"Although the park was closed my department was open.
"We took calls from people who were frightened and wanted to cancel their trips.
"Kids were sad because they were looking forward to their visit but now wouldn't be able to come.
"Some people asked about our security arrangements but at the time we didn't know.
"But there were a lot of nice people who rang to say they were sorry about what had happened, and some called to say that they will be coming as planned.
"A woman from England said we must not be afraid.
"We try to be joyful and stay in a good mood but it can be difficult."
On the night of the attacks Samuel Pean was at a bar watching the France v Germany football match.
He did not know about what was going on outside until a friend in the United States messaged him to check he was OK.
"When we left the district we saw restaurants and bars were closed but people were inside in the dark.
"Police said we had to move because it was not safe. I didn't know if I could take the metro or not so I went to my parents' house.
The following day Samuel went home but he felt the need to be with people.
"I couldn't stay at home. I went to see friends in another district and took the metro.
"But we all knew friends of friends who were affected or who had died.
"I had to go to work on Monday but it was good to be close to colleagues - we are like a family.
"A colleague was crying all day - we needed to be together.
"We are all still a bit afraid.
"I went out to a bar after work which I wouldn't normally do early in the week but it was more of a symbolic gesture.
"It's not normal but we have to pretend. The military and police are everywhere, there are less people on the subway, and more suspect package alerts.
"Paris is quiet and there is not a lot of cars. As it's less noisy you can hear sirens more."
After work, Solene Bertelli planned to meet her boyfriend outside the Bataclan near to where he lives.
She saw a crowd of people in front of the Bataclan having drinks, waiting to go inside to see a band play.
"After that we walked down the street and saw a man who was shouting, "Run, run."
"People were standing around not knowing what to do. Then suddenly everyone started running.
"No matter what direction we went to there was panic.
"We met some strangers who offered to take us into their home.
"This was around 22:00 and we stayed there until 04:00."
Solene and her boyfriend wanted to go to his home near the Bataclan.
"At the beginning the police didn't want us to go as it was carnage. But a policeman walked with us.
"There was blood and bullets everywhere, and dead people were being taken away."
Solene works at a bakery and found it difficult to go back to work.
"I work a few days a week at the bakery. It was hard for me to return.
"I had to take the subway, and then I realised what had happened on Friday - I didn't feel safe.
"But as the days go on I am feeling better.
"There are more people on the streets - it's more alive."


The mood inside a mass meeting of union representatives at Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant was "very emotional", a union rep has said.

The firm announced 750 job cuts there on Monday, among 1,050 across the UK.
A further 1,200 jobs could be lost as its suppliers shed workers in response, a think tank has said.
Martin Waters from the Community union added: "It's very emotional. There are people in there with high mortgages."
The meeting began at 17:00 GMT and was attended by more than 50 people.
Earlier, First Minister Carwyn Jones said Port Talbot should be designated as an enterprise zone by the chancellor to help safeguard Tata Steel's future in the town.
He told AMs that enterprise zones offered tax relief on capital spending and help with business rates.
During First Minister's Questions, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies called on the Welsh government to cut business rates to help Tata.
Mr Jones said business rates were under review but claimed it would not be enough by itself to solve the steel industry crisis.
Problems such as a glut of steel on the world market, a strong pound and high energy costs were all outside the Welsh government's control, the first minister added.
He said Economy Minister Edwina Hart had written to Chancellor George Osborne asking him to approve the idea of an enterprise zone to give firms in Port Talbot business rate relief and tax breaks.
Meanwhile the chancellor defended the UK government in a Commons spat with his Labour shadow John McDonnell, who accused him of being quick to defend bankers' bonuses, but taking "four months to save steelworkers jobs".
Mr Osborne said steel was in an "incredibly difficult situation" and the industry was losing jobs in every country in the world.
UK ministers were taking action to defend steel, he said, including measures to reduce energy costs and "deal with the dumping of Chinese steel".
On Wednesday, Mrs Hart is due to chair a task force set up in response to the job losses at Tata, and other firms who depend on steel workers' wages for their survival.
As politicians defended their actions and ability to help the steel industry, business owners in Port Talbot spoke of their fears for the future.
Michael Cosker, president of Port Talbot's Chamber of Trade and owner of cafe Rolls Choice, said: "It's been a hell of a knock. It's a massive blow for the town.
"Sometimes you feel like the town has a death sentence - especially with [the future of] junction 41 still up in the air, we have so much thrown at us.
"We're all gutted."
Ziaur Rahman, owner of Indian restaurant Cinnamon Kitchen on Aberavon seafront, said: "Three years ago we invested a lot of money to do the building up and took a huge risk to invest in the town.
"Our trade is going to fall big time... and hold back any investment we had planned.
"It is very sad news. It has shaken us."
Rebecca Morris, team leader at hotel and pub The Twelve Knights near the plant, said the announcement would hit business hard.
She said: "We take a lot of hotel bookings through the works.
"About 90% of our regulars are steel workers. People will either take to drink or not come at all."
Owner of recently-opened restaurant Mavericks Bar & Grill Lee Davies said the announcement would have a "massive impact" on his business.
"Steelworkers are our main clientele," he said.
"I've spoken to a few customers who have lost their jobs and they're devastated."
Actor Michael Sheen, who grew up in Port Talbot, told BBC Two's Newsnight it was a "very frightening time for the town".
"That has a knock-on effect for the whole region, the support work that's going on, other people, jobs that are dependent on what's going on in the steelworks," he said.
Tata Steel Europe, which employs 17,000 in the UK, is in the throes of a wide-scale reorganisation of its business.
Announcing the job cuts on Monday, the company said "tough actions are critical in the face of extremely difficult market conditions".


Imagine losing your home and everything you own in a massive fire.

26 January 2015 Last updated at 08:54 GMT
That happened to 12-year-old Cameron Orton whose home was totally destroyed by wildfires in Australia last year.
It's a problem the country faces every summer.
The BBC's Phil Mercer went to meet him.


A Borders-based pharmaceuticals firm is seeking authorisation for a new drug for the treatment of the most common heritable form of rickets.

Kyowa Kirin International, formerly ProStrakan, is based in Galashiels.
KRN23 is the first of a pipeline of drugs from KKI's parent company, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, to reach the stage of seeking European approval.
The company said it was part of efforts to "contribute to the health and wellbeing of people around the world".
Rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency resulting in weakened bones.


The BBC has apologised for a Newsnight report about military charity Help for Heroes that gave the false impression it was responsible for shortcomings in  support offered to wounded veterans.

A BBC investigation found the report in August 2012 was misleading and unfair.
The programme has also been under fire for dropping a report into disgraced BBC DJ Jimmy Savile and wrongly linking Lord McAlpine to a sex abuse inquiry.
The apology was broadcast on radio and online, with Newsnight to follow.
The internal investigation into the report by former Bureau of Investigative Journalism chief reporter Angus Stickler found that there was no evidence to back Newsnight's claim about Help for Heroes.
In the apology, the BBC will say: "Following an investigation by its Editorial Complaints Unit, the BBC now accepts that its coverage was misleading and unfair to Help for Heroes.
"The BBC gave the impression that Help for Heroes was responsible for shortcomings in the provision of support to wounded veterans. The editorial complaints unit found no evidence to support this suggestion.
"Although it was legitimate to report the concerns of veterans, the BBC portrayed criticisms about overall support by a number of agencies as specific criticisms of Help for Heroes. This unfair impression was reinforced by our coverage of the story in other outlets.
"In addition, the Newsnight report contained interviews with two contributors which were edited in a way which misrepresented their views."
It continues:  "Although a representative of Help for Heroes took part in a studio discussion which followed the Newsnight report, the response of Help for Heroes to the criticisms wasn't properly reflected.
"This contributed further to the unfair impression of Help for Heroes, for which the BBC wishes to apologise."
The BBC said it accepted the findings of the ruling, and acknowledged that it had "made some mistakes" in reporting concerns from some veterans: "That shouldn't have happened and we apologise."
"It is important to stress that the ruling has found that it is clear that at least some injured veterans and their families had been expressing criticisms of Help for Heroes and it was legitimate to report these," it added.
Help for Heroes welcomed the apology, but said the Bureau of Investigative Journalism should also apologise to all of the wounded service personnel, their families and others who support the charity through volunteering and fundraising.
It said that after allowing the journalists to visit a recovery centre and interview a family, the "broad and completely understandable concerns about the long-term care needs of the wounded were falsely and unfairly reported as criticisms of the charity".
"The Newsnight report was a complete shock to us, but an even bigger shock to the men and women we're helping to recover," co-founders Bryn and Emma Parry said in a joint statement.
"We are  grateful the BBC has admitted it got the story completely wrong and has finally apologised.
Newsnight was criticised for dropping a report into Jimmy Savile's years of sex abuse. It led to an internal inquiry and the programme's editor, Peter Rippon, stepped down.
Then last November the programme linked Lord McAlpine to allegations of sex abuse. The BBC paid Â£185,000 in damages to him.
A new editor for the programme was announced on Thursday. Ian Katz, from the Guardian, will take up his role in September.


Ricardo Mannetti has quit as Namibia coach just 19 days after guiding the country to the Cosafa Cup title.

Pre-tournament outsiders Namibia defeated Mozambique 2-0 to win the southern African championship in South Africa.
The former national team midfielder will be replaced by ex-'Brave Warriors' goalkeeper Ronnie  Kanalelo, who has been assistant coach for two years.
"It's based on personal reasons and I don't wish to share them now," he said.
"We are shocked and extremely disappointed to inform the general football-loving public through you the media that coach Mannetti has relinquished his duties as Brave Warriors head coach with immediate effect," NFA secretary-general Barry Rukoro said.
"It's an open secret that Mannetti's contract was coming to an end after the Cosafa Cup and the association dully acted swiftly by offering him a new improved contract, which he declined."
Mannetti is the third coach to leave his side after the first round of qualifiers for the 2017 African Nations Cup after Young Chimodzi was axed by Malawi and Joao Chissano was sacked by Mozambique.
Namibia lost their qualification opener 1-0 in Niger.
Mannetti said he would continue to work with the national football  association, developing young footballers.
The first challenge for Kanalelo comes on Sunday when Namibia host Zambia  in a 2016 African Nations Championship qualifier for home-based stars.


The Queen has met relatives of the victims of an IRA bombing in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, 25 years ago.

Enniskillen was the scene of one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles when 11 people were killed on Remembrance Sunday in 1987.
The Queen and Prince Philip are on a two-day visit to Northern Ireland as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour.
The royal couple are staying overnight at Hillsborough Castle.
Earlier they also attended a service of thanksgiving to mark her 60-year reign.
The meeting with Enniskillen bomb families included those injured in the atrocity.
Stephen Gault was injured in the bombing and his father, Samuel, was killed.
He said he was honoured to have met the Queen.
"It highlights the point that the Enniskillen victims will not be forgotten, when Her Majesty the Queen made time in her hectic schedule, in her Jubilee year to come to Enniskillen," he said.
He said he was "not that bothered" about the prospect of former IRA leader and Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness shaking the monarch's hand "as long as it didn't happen in Enniskillen".
"I would have been a bridge too far to actually have the handshake in Enniskillen... after what happened in 1987," he said.
Earlier, thousands of people lined the streets to welcome the couple after their flight was delayed for about an hour due to bad weather.
The Queen was wearing a Wedgwood blue crepe outfit by royal designer Angela Kelly, complemented by a shamrock diamond brooch.
By Mark SimpsonBBC Ireland Correspondent
By visiting the western tip of the United Kingdom, the Queen was making a point about history as well as geography.
Enniskillen will be forever remembered as the town that endured one of the worst IRA atrocities of the Troubles.
The Queen's trip to the County Fermanagh town - and her meeting with relatives of the victims - showed she had not forgotten.
The visit was also a chance for County Fermanagh people to catch a glimpse of one of the most famous faces in the world. Thousands lined the streets.
The jovial atmosphere was summed up by the banner "Go Lizzie Go".
The service of thanksgiving at St Macartin's Cathedral in Enniskillen was attended by more than 700 people including senior Protestant and Catholic clergy.
The lesson was read by First Minister Peter Robinson.
The Prayers of Intercession were led by Reverend Ken Lindsay, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Catholic Primate of Ireland Sean Brady and the Right Reverend Dr Roy Patton Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
The sermon was delivered by the Most Reverend Alan Harper OBE, Archbishop of Armagh, who went on to pronounce The Blessing.
Archbishop Harper praised the Queen's visit to the Republic of Ireland last year.
He said her conciliatory words and gestures had allowed many to throw off the "shackles" that had been loosening since 1998's Good Friday Agreement, and to "positively" be themselves.
The Right Reverend John McDowell, led the Diamond Jubilee Prayer, which had been written at the Queen's direction by the Chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral for Her Majesty's Jubilee.
After the service, the Queen met about 100 people at St Michael's Catholic church in the town. It is believed to be the first time the Queen has visited a Catholic church in Ireland.
Among those present were Cardinal Brady as well as local children and representatives from a number of sectors including sport, farming and business.
The Queen later visited the new £276m South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen which opened last week, and had an opportunity to meet patients and staff.
She then unveiled a plaque marking the official opening of the hospital.
At Hillsborough Castle, her official residence in Northern Ireland, the monarch  unveiled a statue to the mythical, warrior poet, Óisín.
The Queen will meet Sinn Fein's Mr McGuinness at an arts event in Belfast on Wednesday.
The event is being hosted by Co-Operation Ireland.
Its chief executive, former senior police officer Peter Sheridan, said the handshake would be hugely significant.
"Even the most visionary among us would never have imagined that Her Majesty and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness would be meeting in a handshake," he said.
"I think that is hugely significant - I don't think any of us could ever have imagined that.
"The very fact that is happening says a lot, not just about healing and reconciliation, but also about a coming together.
"I think at the end of tomorrow all of us will have realised that things have changed and that we are in life beyond conflict."
The Irish Republic's head of state, President Michael D Higgins, and Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson will also be at the event.
Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson, who is accompanying Her Majesty during her trip, previously said her Stormont visit would have been "unthinkable" years ago.
The two-day visit is the Queen's 20th trip to Northern Ireland.
Some protests by dissident republicans have been expected, but an anti-royal demonstration in Belfast at the weekend only attracted about 300 people.
The Queen's ground-breaking four-day visit to the Irish Republic last year cemented a new era in British-Irish relations.
In spite of speculation that the handshake between Mr McGuinness and the Queen would be off-camera, Mr McGuinness said he had no objection to the encounter being photographed.


Ulster produced a remarkable five-try rout of Toulouse in the European Champions Cup at Kingspan Stadium.

Nick Williams barged over in the 23rd minute before Andrew Trimble scored a sensational individual try to increase Ulster's lead to 17-0 at half-time.
Man of the match Ruan Pienaar set up a Luke Marshall score after the break with a brilliant crosskick.
Stuart McCloskey and Chris Henry also crossed as Toulouse failed to score in a European game for the first time.
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Ulster went into the game knowing a second home defeat in Pool One could have effectively ended their chances of making the knockout stages but this brilliant display and bonus-point win is a huge boost to their qualification hopes.
The Irish province will meet the four-time European champions in the return fixture next Sunday in France.
The home team's display was all the more commendable given the injuries in the squad with Iain Henderson, Peter Nelson, Dan Tuohy and Darren Cave joining Tommy Bowe and Jared Payne on the treatment table after last weekend's Pro12 win over Edinburgh.
Ulster started with a brisk tempo and the pressure eventually yielded a try for Williams midway through the half as the decision to opt for a line-out, instead of going for the posts from the penalty, was rewarded as Pienaar's quick pass helped set up the New Zealander to score.
With the influential Louis Picamoles already off because of a shoulder injury, Toulouse were looking ragged - not least a couple of poor penalty attempts from one-time England stand-off Toby Flood.
After a Paddy Jackson penalty increased Ulster's lead, the home side struck a significant blow two minutes before the interval as Trimble gathered his own chip over the top to touch down after Pienaar had got his pass away despite being cynically tripped by Yacouba Camara.
A last-ditch Vincent Clerc tackle prevented a Craig Gilroy try after the resumption but the third touchdown was not long in arriving as Pienaar displayed wonderful vision to find the unmarked Marshall with a gorgeous kick to the left corner.
The Toulouse defence was marked absent as emerging centre McCloskey ran in the score that secured the bonus-point on 53 minutes before a vintage maul set up Henry's try as Toulouse wasted late chances to at least get on the scoreboard.
Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss: "We just had a message to be relentless either side of their ball-carriers and make sure that we sucked the life out of their play.
"We had a few more guys out after last week because of injury but the boys didn't allow that to hijack themselves and say: 'Poor me'.
"A superb week of preparation set this up."
TEAMS
Ulster: Louis Ludik; Andrew Trimble, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Craig Gilroy; Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar; Kyle McCall, Rory Best, Wiehahn Herbst, Alan O'Connor, Franco Van Der Merwe, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Nick Williams
Replacements: Rob Herring for Best 56, Andy Warwick for McCall 58, Ricky Lutton for Herbst 63, Clive Ross for van der Merwe 71, Roger Wilson for Williams 52, Paul Marshall for Pienaar 63, Ian Humphreys for Jackson 63, Rory Scholes for Trimble 78.
Toulouse: Clément Poitrenaud; Vincent Clerc, Gael Fickou, Toby Flood, Arthur Bonneval; Luke McAlister, Sébastien Bézy; Vasil Kakovin, Corey Flynn, Census Johnston, Yoann Maestri, Joe Tekori, Yacouba Camara, Thierry Dusautoir, Louis Picamoles
Replacements: Julien Marchand for Flynn 49, Cyril Baille for Kakovin 49, Dorian Aldegheri for Johnston 49, Edwin Maka for Maestri 66, Gregory Lamboley for Picamoles 15, Jean-Marc Doussain for Bezy 54, Alexis Palisson for Fickou 63.
Not used: Gillian Galan
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)


Wales centre Ashley Beck made his comeback as Ospreys began their pre-season with victory over Leicester Tigers at the Liberty Stadium.

Beck suffered a serious knee injury on the opening weekend of the 2015-16 season and played no further part in the campaign.
The 26-year-old was a second half replacement for Josh Matavesi.
Matavesi, Sam Parry, Dafydd Howells and Ben John crossed for the home side's tries.


Britain's Georgia Ward and Matty Lee claimed team bronze on the opening night of the European Aquatics Championships in London.

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Ward and Lee alternated 10m platform and 3m springboard routines to score a combined 353.85 points from six dives.
Russia's Nadezhda Bazhina and Viktor Minibaev claimed gold (413.30) ahead of Ukrainians Iuliia Prokopchuk and Oleksandr Gorshkovozov (396.40).
"That was incredible," Ward told BBC Sport.
"Having the crowd here supporting in my home pool was a real help and it's a great beginning to what will be a busy competition."
Lee, who performed two 3m dives and one from 10m, added: "I'm not a springboard diver and I only learnt the two dives I did earlier this week, but it's a really good start to the competition."
Ward, who dived twice from 10m and once from 3m, has been in impressive form this year, securing Britain a second 10m platform berth for the Rio 2016 Olympics via the Rio test event in February.
Lee won individual 10m platform gold at the inaugural 2015 European Games in Baku.
Both will compete in their individual 10m platform events later in the competition and will pair up again for the mixed synchronised 10m platform event on Saturday.
Women's 10m platform pair Tonia Couch and Lois Toulson will bid for European honours on Tuesday at the London 2012 Olympic venue.
Olympians Olivia Federici and Katie Clark will compete in the free duet preliminary round.


The government has been defeated in the House of Lords after peers voted to accept 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees into the UK from Europe.

An amendment to the Immigration Bill to let the children come to Britain was adopted by 306 votes to 204 - a majority of 102.
Labour's Lord Dubs, who came to the UK as a child refugee, said it would save children from exploitation and abuse.
But the government said the amendment would not target those most in need.
Home Office minister Lord Bates said the government was concentrating its efforts on helping Syrian refugees before they reach Europe and insisted no other country was doing more than the UK.
Campaigners, including charity Save the Children, have been calling for the government to accept 3,000 children from Europe into the UK, but ministers have warned that it could spur more refugees to risk "lethal" journeys.
Ministers may seek to overturn the defeat - the latest in a string of votes the government has lost in the Lords this Parliament - when the bill returns to the Commons.
Arguing for the UK to take in 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees, Lord Dubs said it would protect children from exploitation, people trafficking and abuse.
The peer - who arrived in the UK as a refugee on the Kindertransport which helped children escape from the Nazis during World War Two - said the UK needed to show the same compassion.
"I would like other children who are in a desperate situation to be offered safety in this country and be given the same opportunities that I had," he told peers.
His amendment - which would require ministers to allow the children to come to the UK as soon as possible after the bill became law - attracted cross-party support.
"We could do it in 1930s, why can't we do it now?" said crossbench peer Baroness Neuberger, while fellow crossbencher Lord Alton of Liverpool warned that refusing to help the children would leave a "lasting stain" on Britain's reputation.
"This is a small, but beautiful thing that we can do," added the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell.
Meanwhile, a call to exclude children above the age of 12 from the scheme came from former Conservative Chancellor Lord Lawson of Blaby.
Home Office minister Lord Bates said on behalf of the government: "We have a principled objection. That the people most at risk are in the region."
"I question whether it (the amendment) identifies, or provides help, for the right people. We believe we should not be doing anything that encourages one child to make that perilous journey," he added.
Lord Bates said 51% of the 1,000 Syrian refugees resettled in the UK - as part of the government's pledge to take in 20,000 by 2020 - had been children.
He also said there was a shortage of foster carers and that it was hard to place refugee families with local authorities.
But the government's argument was not supported by the majority of the House, which voted by a margin of 102 to accept the amendment.


There is further, compelling evidence that Ganymede - the largest moon in the Solar System - has an ocean of water beneath its icy crust.

The new data comes from the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been studying how auroral lights dance around the satellite of Jupiter.
The presence of a sub-surface ocean would heighten interest in Ganymede as a potentially habitable world.
Europe's robotic Juice probe is being sent to orbit the moon in the 2030s.
Nasa's Galileo mission returned information in the early 2000s that suggested the 5,300km-wide moon had a hidden sea. The new insights from Hubble deepen that impression.
Ganymede's great distinction among moons - apart from its size - is that it has its own magnetic field.
Hubble has managed to track that field's behaviour by watching how it draws in and excites space particles, generating a glow of ultraviolet light around the satellite's north and south poles.
But this intrinsic magnetic field also interweaves with Jupiter's, and the aurora "rock" back and forth as a result of the interplay.
It is by modelling the expected rocking against what is observed by Hubble that scientists can infer something about the internal structure of the moon. And they now say a salty ocean at depth is the best explanation for what they see.
That is because Jupiter's field induces a secondary field in the salt water, and this tries to counterbalance the big planet's influence.
The end result is that the aurora rock only by two degrees over time when without the presence of the ocean, they should be rocking by six degrees.
"The ocean cannot be deeper than 330km; anything deeper would not explain the data," said lead scientist Joachim Saur of the University of Cologne in Germany.
"The data are consistent with an ocean of a 100km thickness with a certain salt content of about 5g per one litre of water.  But it could equally well be an ocean of only 10km but with 10 times more salt."
The idea that a sub-surface ocean exists on Ganymede is exciting because wherever you have liquid water, you have one of the main ingredients for life.
You need much more, of course - not least a source of energy and some complex carbon chemistry. But understanding the ocean will be one of the primary objectives of the European Space Agency's billion-pound Juice robot when it arrives at Ganymede in 2030.
The orbiter will have a very sensitive magnetometer instrument to study Ganymede's magnetic field in more detail, as well as a radar instrument to look beneath the icy crust.  But other types of observations, like gravity measurements, should also elicit additional insights.
Heidi Hammel, from the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Washington DC, said the Hubble information represented the "best evidence yet" for Ganymede's hidden ocean.  Although the Galileo orbiter had strongly suggested the water volume was present, it was possible still to interpret its magnetometer information in different ways, she explained.
"There was some ambiguity, which is why the word 'putative' was still used [in relation to the ocean].  But this result takes us out of the realm of ambiguity," she told reporters.
Ganymede is just one of a large list of objects in the Solar System now thought to hide an ocean deep below the surface. These include the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres; other Jupiter moons - Europa and Calisto; Saturn's moons Enceladus, Titan and Mimas; and possibly Neptune's moon, Triton.
"The Solar System is now looking like a pretty soggy place," joked Jim Green, the US space agency's director of planetary science.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


Valentin Eysseric scored in the final 10 minutes as faltering Ligue 1 title contenders Nice came from two goals down to save a point at Rennes.

With Mario Balotelli absent because of illness, Lucien Favre's side went behind to a chipped finish from former West Ham midfielder Morgan Amalfitano.
Giovanni Sio turned in from close range for Rennes' second amid offside claims.
Anastasios Donis pulled one back before Eysseric ran clear to slot in the equaliser for Nice, who remain third.
Benjamin Andre almost won it for Rennes with a header from a corner in the final minutes, but Mounir Obaddi cleared it off the line.
Favre's team, who led the table for much of the first half of the season, have won just two of their last seven Ligue 1 matches, and are five points off the top.
Despite their comeback, they finish the weekend having lost ground on second-placed Paris St-Germain, who won 3-0 at Bordeaux on Friday, and leaders Monaco, who thumped Metz 5-0 on Saturday.
Match ends, Rennes 2, Nice 2.
Second Half ends, Rennes 2, Nice 2.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Sio (Rennes) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Morgan Amalfitano with a cross.
Mounir Obbadi (Nice) is shown the yellow card.
Pedro Mendes (Rennes) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt blocked. Benjamin André (Rennes) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Morgan Amalfitano with a cross.
Corner,  Rennes. Conceded by Maxime Le Marchand.
Jean Michael Seri (Nice) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Aldo Kalulu (Rennes).
Foul by Wylan Cyprien (Nice).
Gelson Fernandes (Rennes) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Paul Baysse (Nice) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Benjamin André (Rennes).
Corner,  Rennes. Conceded by Mounir Obbadi.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Sio (Rennes) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Gelson Fernandes.
Younès Belhanda (Nice) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Younès Belhanda (Nice).
Pedro Mendes (Rennes) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!  Rennes 2, Nice 2. Valentin Eysseric (Nice) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jean Michael Seri with a through ball.
Foul by Anastasios Donis (Nice).
Morgan Amalfitano (Rennes) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Anastasios Donis (Nice) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Younès Belhanda.
Substitution, Rennes. Dimitri Kevin Cavare replaces Ramy Bensebaini because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, Nice. Maxime Le Marchand replaces Dalbert because of an injury.
Delay in match Ramy Bensebaini (Rennes) because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Sio (Rennes) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Benjamin André.
Offside, Rennes. Benjamin André tries a through ball, but Giovanni Sio is caught offside.
Offside, Nice. Dante tries a through ball, but Anastasios Donis is caught offside.
Foul by Paul Baysse (Nice).
Giovanni Sio (Rennes) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Wylan Cyprien (Nice) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Anastasios Donis.
Substitution, Rennes. Aldo Kalulu replaces Firmin Ndombe Mubele.
Substitution, Nice. Mounir Obbadi replaces Vincent Koziello.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Sio (Rennes) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Benjamin André.
Attempt saved. Giovanni Sio (Rennes) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Benjamin André with a cross.
Goal!  Rennes 2, Nice 1. Anastasios Donis (Nice) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Valentin Eysseric.
Attempt missed. Giovanni Sio (Rennes) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Pedro Mendes.
Foul by Arnaud Souquet (Nice).
Firmin Ndombe Mubele (Rennes) wins a free kick on the left wing.


The BBC's Global Health Correspondent Tulip Mazumdar has been investigating a new Zika vaccine which could be ready for human trials later this year.

Tulip has been covering the outbreak over the past few months, reporting on the children born with microcephaly and other birth defects believed to be caused by the virus as well as speaking to scientists who are leading the fight back against Zika.
Many of you got in touch on Facebook to ask Tulip questions about the new vaccine, and when it might be available to pregnant women.
This is an edited version of the Facebook Q&A.
Question from Dawn McLean: Have you tested the vaccine already? How do you know if it works or not?
Tulip answers: Human trials haven't started for the vaccine being developed by the National Institutes of Health - where I have been reporting from this week. They are due to start - assuming no major problems - in the summer/ autumn of this year.
If the vaccine is found to be safe with no concerning side effects, the drug will be given to a larger number of people to test how effective it is and further evaluate its safety. The final phase is giving it to large groups of people to confirm how effective it is.
Question from Priscilla Wakanuma: How possible is it to make a vaccine for this virus?
Tulip replies: Scientists here in Bethesda at the National Institutes of Health think it's very possible. They already have a vaccine for a similar virus - West Nile - which they have been working on.
So they're using some of the tried and tested methods from that to try and develop a vaccine for Zika ASAP.
Taj Rahman asks: The vaccine is available in November, I thought this was a global emergency?
Tulip replies: Hi Taj - getting vaccines ready for market takes years, often decades. They have to go through stringent safety and efficacy trials and then get signed off by a whole load of regulatory bodies.
When the WHO declared this public health emergency last month, one of the key things they highlighted was the urgent need for research into new vaccines. Scientists and pharmaceuticals came together very fast on Ebola, it's hoped that can happen again this time.
But sadly, many more babies are expected to be born with these birth defects in the meantime.
Question from Hannah Borrett:  How have they managed to push through the development so quickly?
Tulip replies: You're right, it can take years, decades even to get a new vaccine through all the clinical trials and then signed off through all the various national and international regulatory authorities. But in an emergency - which the Zika outbreak now is - things can be fast-tracked.
A lot more money is put into research, and there's a much bigger political will to get things moving fast.
Take the Ebola outbreak for example, there are now a couple of candidate vaccines that could be used in an outbreak that have shown some efficacy. Research - and cash - for that vaccine was pushed through super quickly.
Adebola Misturah Martins-Bello asks about plans to prioritise who will be considered a priority for the vaccine.
Tulip replies: The plan here at the National Institutes of Health is to have a special focus on protecting pregnant women.
The virus isn't particularly harmful for most people, but the concern is this strongly suspected link to babies of infected mothers being born with under developed brains.
If a link if confirmed, and a vaccine is developed quickly - health authorities will look into whether to add it to childhood vaccines, a bit like the rubella vaccine, which also protects girls/ women if they have babies later in life.
You can follow @tulipmazumdar on Twitter.


An NHS trust that runs seven Gloucestershire hospitals has been rated as requiring improvement.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found that care at Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust was "good" but it judged safety in the urgent care service "to be inadequate".
Inspectors said people were waiting too long to be assessed at minor injuries units and there were safety concerns.
The trust said it had taken on board the CQC's findings.
The trust runs hospitals at Cirencester, Stroud General and Tewkesbury Community Hospital, Minor Injuries and Illness Units (MIIU), dental clinics and community services.
The inspection, carried out in June, July and August, found that patients were being seen by "unregistered practitioners".
Sir Mike Richards, the CQC's chief inspector of hospitals, said community teams were "overstretched" because there were not enough experienced nurses and it was concerned about safety in the urgent care service.
"We were not assured that people were adequately protected from the risk of harm, and we were not convinced that this had been addressed adequately yet by the trust board," he said.
"While there are many good services, we have also been very clear about those areas for improvement, which I expect the trust to address as a priority."
Dr Marion Andrews-Evans, from the NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, said the trust was working to ensure patients "receive the right care, in the right place at the right time".
"We know that the trust has taken immediate action to improve arrangements for initial triage of patients within Community Minor Injury and Illness Units," she said.
"We also know that they are working hard to recruit and train additional emergency nurse practitioners to support increased use of MIIU services."


Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was sent to prison in part for helping draft a manifesto calling for political change in China.

Charter 08 advocates a whole series of reforms that would result in a separation of powers, a new constitution and legislative democracy.
It says the Chinese Communist Party's approach to modernisation has been "disastrous".
If its suggestions were introduced, it would mean the end of the current political system that the party has fought so hard to maintain.
A people's government?
Charter 08 was issued in December two years ago to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It took its inspiration - and its name - from Charter 77, a political document written in Czechoslovakia at a time when it was under the Soviet Union's sway.
Charter 08 is divided into three parts; the first looks back at China's recent history, the second outlines the authors' fundamental principles, the third presents a list of suggested reforms.
Its verdict on the last 61 years of rule by the Communist party is damning.
"The political reality, which is plain for anyone to see, is that China has many laws, but no rule of law," it reads, according to a version translated by Perry Link, a US expert in Chinese studies.
It declares that the decline of the current political system has reached a point where change is no longer optional.
The authors' fundamental principles laid out in the charter's second section include ideas such as freedom, human rights, constitutional rule and republicanism.
It recommends competitive elections for important official positions.
"Democracy is a modern means for achieving government truly 'of the people, by the people and for the people'," the manifesto says, echoing words used by US President Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address.
The main part of the document details 19 reforms the authors advocate.
They include suggested changes to the political system, such as a separation of powers and an independent judiciary.
It wants the crime of inciting the subversion of state power to be abolished - the very crime that Liu Xiaobo was convicted of in December last year.
Charter 08 also calls for genuine freedom of expression. "We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes," it declares.
It also advocates reforms to the education system, which the authors believe helps underpin the party's rule in China.
"We should abolish political curriculums and examinations that are designed to indoctrinate students in state ideology and to instil support for the rule of one party," it says.
Some of the reforms suggested, such as freedom of speech, are already supposed to be guaranteed by China's existing constitution.
China's top leaders - most notably the premier, Wen Jiabao - have also themselves raised the idea that the country's political system should be reformed.
But the authorities were so concerned about Charter 08 that they put pressure on many of those who supported it.
Some were simply asked to withdraw their signatures.
But Liu Xiaobo, as one of the authors, was given a harsher sentence. He is currently serving an 11-year jail term at a prison Jinzhou in northeast China.


A police force is expanding its hate crime categories to include subcultures after campaigning by the mother of murdered goth Sophie Lancaster.

Leicestershire Police say they are committed to ensuring that no-one is targeted because of their appearance.
There are currently five nationally agreed hate crime categories but forces can add their own categories.
Greater Manchester Police was the first force to add subcultures as a category, and Leicestershire is the ninth.
Sophie's mother Sylvia Lancaster said people from alternative communities can now be confident they will be taken seriously if they report their concerns to the force.
"It's a wider issue than people realise," said Ms Lancaster.
"It's because alternative subcultures are under the radar, they are not part of the mainstream, and they put up with the abuse and intolerance they face.
"They put up with abuse starting from name calling up to physical abuse."
Read more about the Sophie Lancaster Foundation
Ms Lancaster set up the Sophie Lancaster Foundation to help reduce hate crime, and the charity has previously worked with Leicestershire Police at the Download rock festival.
She said police in some areas do not take the abuse seriously, and she is campaigning for legislation to change so that "lifestyle and dress code" is a hate crime category nationally.
"Very often they are seen as the perpetrators rather than the victims because of the way that they look," said Ms Lancaster.
"We have people [from subcultures] come up to us saying 'Does this mean I have to move to Manchester then?'
"Leicestershire is sending out a signal that it will be taken seriously."
The other police forces to include subcultures as a hate crime category are Durham, East Sussex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Suffolk, Warwickshire and West Mercia.
Darren Goddard, Leicestershire Police's hate crime officer, said: "We are the first force in the region to make these changes and it reflects how seriously we take hate crime and the commitment Leicestershire Police has to ensure that no-one is targeted because of their appearance."
A crime that the victim or any other person perceives to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards any aspect of a person's identity.
Police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland annually monitor five strands of hate crime:
Source: Stop Hate UK


Serena Williams says female tennis players deserve their equal pay, in the latest debate about prize money.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion was questioned on the issue after her 48-minute 6-2 6-0 Wimbledon semi-final victory against Elena Vesnina.
Roger Federer and Andy Murray's Centre Court quarter-finals against Marin Cilic and Jo Wilfried-Tsonga lasted a combined seven hours and 11 minutes.
"I don't deserve to be paid less because of my sex," said Williams, 34.
The American was asked about equal pay by the media after she swept into her ninth Wimbledon title in under an hour while, on Wednesday, second seed Murray and third seed Federer were both taken to five sets.
In March, male world number one Novak Djokovic said men deserved to be paid more because more people watched them.
However, the 11-time Grand Slam winner apologised shortly afterwards, saying: "I don't make any differences between the genders. I am for equality in the sport."
His comments followed Indian Wells tournament chief Raymond Moore saying the women's game was "riding on the coat tails" of the men's.
Moore, who also said female players "should get down on their knees" in thanks to male counterparts, later resigned.
"Basically my whole life I've been doing this. I haven't had a life," defending Wimbledon champion Williams said.
"I would like to see people - the public, the press, other athletes in general - just realise and respect women for who they are and what we are and what we do."
Wimbledon was the last Grand Slam to introduce equal pay in 2007, while the French, US and Australian Slams introduced it in 2006, 1973 and 2001 respectively.
Williams will face Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the final on Saturday, after the German beat Venus Williams 6-4 6-4 in the other semi-final, in 72 minutes.
Kerber said: "We are giving everything on court, everybody. You never know if it's two hours or, at the end, eight hours."


The UK government is abdicating its responsibilities and "unfairly shifting the burden" of dealing with dirty air on to local authorities, says an industry body.

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health outlined its views in response to the government's consultation on air pollution.
Under pressure from the courts, an outline plan was published last month.
A detailed scheme must be in place by the end of July.
On the top of Michael Gove's rather full in-tray will be the tricky question of how best to tackle air pollution, especially the very high levels of nitrogen dioxide which are linked to diesel engines.
The new Environment Secretary will have to decide on the best way of meeting the substantial challenge posed to the government by the courts.
Last November, the High Court told the government that its existing air quality plan was not fit for purpose and ordered publication of a draft scheme by early May.
While the draft plan considers many options for tackling the problem, the central thrust of making local authorities responsible for cleaning up the air has drawn the ire of the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health (CIEH).
"The government's proposals are woefully inadequate to tackle air pollution and place far too much responsibility on the shoulders of our over-stretched local authorities," said Tony Lewis, head of policy at CIEH.
"We stand on the cliff-edge of a national public health emergency and these plans are devoid of substantive proposals, timescales for addressing the key challenges, clarity around targets or even availability of resources to support necessary actions."
An analysis by Friends of the Earth, also published on Thursday, says that the government's own data shows that 58 local authorities across the UK will still have illegal levels of air pollution in 2019 without further action being taken.
"They were trying to hide the true effects until the court forced them to show the much worse situation and that is revealed in this table," Jenny Bates from Friends of the Earth told BBC News.
"Without further action, London would still have illegal air in 2030, Birmingham and Leeds until 2026, and 58 places until 2019."
The campaigners say that properly funded, clean air zones that impose charges on the dirtiest vehicles must be introduced by the end of next year.
They are annoyed that in its draft plan the government did all it could to ensure that councils looked at every other option, including removing speed bumps, before imposing charging clean air zones.
"The law requires the cleaning up of the air in the shortest possible time. Deliberately delaying the most effective tool can't be right," said Jenny Bates.
"It's supposed to be done irrespective of cost, irrespective of political difficulties. They just have to do it because it is literally costing lives."
However, the idea that clean air zones that charge drivers of polluting vehicles should be top of the government's list does not find favour with everyone.
"We need a programme of replacing or retrofitting ageing bus and taxi fleets with cleaner engines, especially in towns and cities which are breaching air pollution limits," said Nick Lyes from the RAC.
"Rushing to implement charges on car owners in such a short space of time is simply not practical for many drivers, and charges should only be considered if other measures are deemed not to be improving local air quality."
The RAC says that no-idling zones could be introduced immediately, while longer term, greater efforts should be made to encourage drivers to switch to low-emissions vehicles.
Follow Matt on Twitter and on Facebook


It's 32ft (10m) wide and 16ft (5m) deep.

This is the hole outside Sarah Jenkins' house in Upper Basildon, near Reading which appeared earlier this month and is still growing.
It's been described as one of the biggest sinkholes in the UK.
But what exactly is a sinkhole and how and why do they open up? Sinkholes can take thousands of years to form and usually happen when rock underneath the ground is dissolved by acid rain.
That creates a hole under the surface and then the top level of soil falls through when it can't take the weight above it any more.
The final collapse can take anything from minutes to hours.
In the latest case in Berkshire, the house is sat on top of an old brick factory with underground tunnels.
Watch the video of this woman falling into a hole as it opened up in China. She did survive.
Rock which dissolves easily, like limestone or chalk, is more likely to be affected. That's why lots of sinkholes appear in Florida, which is built on limestone.
Heavy rain and bad drainage systems can make the holes more likely.
Britain usually has two or three cases a year, but in February 2014 alone, six sinkholes appeared after heavy rain.
Experts also warned more were likely because of the bad weather.
See trees and water at a forest in Louisiana being sucked into a sinkhole in 2013.
The world's deepest sinkhole is in China - 2,172ft (662m).
The biggest is 50 miles (80km) by 75 miles (121km) in Egypt.
But many are often just a few metres wide.
There can be some warning signs of sinkholes forming in built-up areas.
You might notice doors and windows aren't closing properly, cracks are appearing in building foundations or you may even feel the ground move.
But it's not easy to predict.
Sinkholes are more common in less built up areas, mainly because developers avoid risky sites.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


Watch Gone, Newsround's special programme on coping with death.

Presented by Barney Harwood, this Newsround special explores the issue of bereavement and the effect it has on children's lives.
It tells the story of four children, all of whom have lost someone they love.


A man and woman found stabbed at a house in Leicestershire have been named.

Warren Hall, 25, of Holland Crescent, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, was discovered dead inside the bungalow on the same street on Thursday afternoon.
His former partner Sandie Rayne, 25, had suffered "extensive injuries" and was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.
An inquest into his death has opened at Loughborough Coroner's Court.
A child, who was unharmed, was also found inside the property.
Leicestershire Police had said: "No one has been arrested and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident."


The final funding for the delayed restoration of a Grade I listed building has been secured.

The Crescent, in Buxton, Derbyshire has stood empty since 1992 and its conversion into a five star hotel has been planned for more than 10 years.
Various funding packages towards the £46m cost have been found but now the government-backed Local Enterprise Partnership has pledged the final £2m.
Developers said the two-year project could start as soon as April.
The building was designed to exploit an 18th Century interest in the area's mineral waters.
Source: Derbyshire County Council
Planning permission was granted in 2006 to convert the building into a 79-bedroom hotel and spa, with shops, visitor centre and tearoom.
But the project faced problems with funding and legal wrangles.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded £12.5m in 2006 and £11.3m in 2014. Along with the Local Enterprise Partnership, other funding has come from the Trevor Osborne Property Group, English Heritage, Derbyshire County Council and High Peak Borough Council.
Caitlin Bisknell, High Peak Borough Council leader, said:  "A lot of people have worked long and hard to achieve this result and it's a terrific result for them, for the Crescent and for the town. I know many local people have fond memories of the former hotel and baths and are as eager as we are to see work start on restoring this iconic building and bringing it back into use."
Developer Trevor Osborne said: "It has taken a long time to get here but it is tremendous it appears to have been finalised.
"We expect this to have a really positive impact on not only the building but Buxton as a whole.
"We are now vigorously talking to contractors to get things under way."
Parts of the refurbished complex will be open to the public.


About 26,500 National Lottery accounts are feared to have been hacked, according to its operator Camelot.

The firm said it did not believe its own systems had been compromised, but rather that the players' login details had been stolen from elsewhere.
The company said that no money had been taken from or added to the compromised accounts.
But it added that there had been other suspicious activity on fewer than 50 of them.
The Information Commissioner's Office said it had launched an investigation into the matter.
"Camelot submitted a breach report to us last night which we have reviewed. We will be talking to Camelot today," said a spokeswoman.
"The Data Protection Act requires organisations to do all they can to keep personal data secure - that includes protecting it from cyberattacks. Where we find this has not happened, we can take action.
"Organisations should be reminded that cybersecurity is a matter for the boardroom, not just the IT department."
Camelot said it became aware of the problem on Sunday.
"We are currently taking all the necessary steps to fully understand what has happened, but we believe that the email address and password used on the National Lottery website may have been stolen from another website where affected players use the same details," it said in a statement.
"We do not hold full debit card or bank account details in National Lottery players' online accounts and no money has been taken or deposited.
"However, we do believe that this attack may have resulted in some of the personal information that the affected players hold in their online account being accessed."
A spokeswoman added that the accounts represented a small fraction of the draw's 9.5 million registered online players.
Camelot is contacting the owners of the accounts thought to have been compromised and instructing them to change their passwords.
One security expert said there had been many recent attacks where logins stolen from one platform had been tested and used to breach another.
But he still had concerns about Camelot's explanation.
"If there's 26,500 accounts here and they are saying the credentials are correct but they didn't come from us, they still let an attacker log in 26,500 times," said Troy Hunt.
"That alone is something that illustrates a deficiency."
Camelot has defended its systems.
"We do have extremely robust systems in place. However, cybercriminals are very persistent and, in this case, used multiple, different IP [internet protocol] addresses over a short period of time.
"As soon as we detected [a] significant increase in both attempted and failed log-ins, we were able to quickly take action to block them."
Other recent attacks targeted at the UK public include:
The University of Surrey's Prof Alan Woodward says these rules should be observed when setting an online password:
Don't choose one obviously associated with you
Hackers can find out a lot about you from social media so if they are targeting you specifically and you choose, say, your pet's name you're in trouble.
Choose words that don't appear in a dictionary
Hackers can precalculate the encrypted forms of whole dictionaries and easily reverse engineer your password.
Use a mixture of unusual characters
You can use a word or phrase that you can easily remember but where characters are substituted, eg, Myd0gha2B1g3ars!
You can make this even stronger by adding in some random characters, eg Myd0g*ha2B1g$3ars!, if you can remember them. But don't be tempted to make the phrase simpler and shorter in order to help you recall it.
Have different passwords for different sites and systems
If hackers compromise one system you do not want them having the key to unlock all your other accounts. As we all have so many accounts, you should consider using a password manager. This has the added advantage that it will suggest strong passwords.


It is the Bank's duty to talk about EU referendum risks, says Bank of England governor Mark Carney, dismissing accusations the Bank is too political.

"Assessing and reporting major risks does not mean becoming involved in politics; rather it would be political to suppress important judgments," he told a House of Lords committee.
Mr Carney said the vote was the biggest domestic risk to the UK's financial stability.
He added that uncertainty was already hitting the growth outlook.
The referendum takes place on 23 June.
The governor said that while the Bank of England had not made "and will not make" any overall assessment of the economics of the UK's EU membership, assessing the implications were necessary for it to do its job - maintaining monetary and financial stability.
"As with the Scottish Referendum, we will communicate as much as is prudent about those plans in advance of any risk materialising and as comprehensively as possible once risks have dissipated," he added.
The governor also reiterated he saw "signs of growing uncertainty about the UK's macroeconomic outlook related to the referendum".
There is the possibility that a vote to leave the EU would "reinforce existing vulnerabilities" in the UK economy, including a risk around the UK's trade deficit, he added.
"I think it's safe to say that it [the UK current account deficit] is running at a rate around 5%... and that is remarkably high for a large advanced economy... The risk around the challenge... is that the financing terms change on that current account. Increased cost to the economy - [a] consequence of that is a sharp slowing of the economy."
Mr Carney also refused to comment in detail on Monday's Treasury report which warned that the UK economy could be 6% smaller by 2010 if it left the EU, but said the report's "broad approach, to me, makes sense".
He said a vote to Leave "might result in an extended period of uncertainty about the economic outlook" which would be likely to affect demand in the short term and could affect the supply side economy.
Mr Carney's appearance in front of the committee comes just days after the Bank of England warned the EU referendum could hurt growth in the first half of this year.
The Bank warned uncertainty over the EU referendum could cause "some softening" in growth in the first half of 2016.
It also said sterling had also been affected by the uncertainty ahead of the vote.


Great Britain won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals on the final day of the Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg, Germany.

It means GB will head to the Rio Paralympic Games this summer with the full contingent of six boat places.
Emma Wiggs won gold in the women's KL2 200 with Nicola Paterson second.
Anne Dickins took KL3 200 gold while there was KL1 200 silver for Jeanette Chippington and bronze medals for Nick Beighton and Martin Tweedie.
Beighton was competing in men's KL2 200 final, and Tweedie in the men's VL3 200.
Steve Harris, British Canoeing's paracanoe programme manager said:  "The main aim coming here was to qualify the remaining two quota places, so to do so is fantastic."


Serbia has started formal accession talks with the EU with the goal of joining the 28-nation bloc.

Serbian PM Ivica Dacic said the EU "is not only the goal, but also the means by which we will modernise our system".
The membership negotiations are expected to take several years, as Serbia has to bring its laws and institutions into line with EU norms.
Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos led the EU team in Brussels. Greece is now chairing EU meetings.
The BBC's Guy De Launey in Belgrade says the Serbian government is led by former ultra-nationalists who converted to the cause of EU membership before they came to power two years ago.
Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the largest party in the governing coalition, has been the driving force, our correspondent says.
He told the BBC that joining the EU was the only sure way to transform Serbia after two decades of conflict, international embargoes and economic woe.
"If we don't change ourselves, if we don't do something regarding rule of law, if we don't do many other changes in other social spheres - we won't be successful in the future," he said.
Serbia's membership negotiations are expected to take at least six years.
Serbia's agreement to normalise relations with Kosovo was the key which allowed membership talks to start. Kosovo broke away from Serbia in a conflict in 1999 and declared independence in 2008 - a move that was condemned by Belgrade.
But a Kosovo-Serbia deal was struck through EU mediation last year.
The EU Ambassador to Serbia, Michael Davenport, told the BBC that "Serbia has made a lot of progress over the last three or four years - putting much stronger emphasis on regional co-operation, and in particular trying to sort out the issue of Kosovo".


The maximum value of gifts sent from the Channel Islands to the UK without incurring VAT has dropped.

Items worth more than £36 sent from the islands will incur VAT from 1 January 2013. The limit was £40.
A gift is defined as an item sent between two private people, such as a birthday or Christmas gift.
Jersey and Guernsey Post allow people to pay the VAT in advance so that the recipient is not charged by the UK Post Office.
A spokesman for Jersey Post said the recipient could have to pay the VAT and an £8 charge set by the Post Office, if the sender did not pre-pay for the item.
VAT is charged on all commercial parcels sent from Jersey to the UK after the end of Low Value Consignment Relief in April 2012. This loophole previously allowed for commercial items worth less than £15 to be sent VAT free.
HM Revenue and Customs says the change is due to a revaluation of the euro compared to the pound.


British Transport Police have praised the public for heeding safety warnings about trespassing on the line during the Flying Scotsman's visit.

It followed problems on previous trips with reports of people on the tracks.
The force said it had dealt with only eight people on its tour of the Borders Railway and the Fife Circle.
Four were found on the line between South Gyle and Dalmeny stations at about 20:15 on Sunday and a further four near Glenrothes a little later.
Ch Supt John McBride said: "The return of the Flying Scotsman was a true spectacle and I want to thank all those people who lined the route and stations to see it as it passed.
"In the main our earlier advice and warnings about not straying on the line to view it were heeded.
"Our officers worked tirelessly with our rail industry partners to ensure the day's events passed without any real incident of note.
"It was a truly memorable day for many and I look forward to its return in the future."


Campaigners have raised privacy concerns over a facial recognition database being developed by the FBI that could contain 52m images by 2015.

The civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) obtained information about the project through a freedom of information request.
It said it was concerned that images of non-criminals would be stored alongside those of criminals.
The FBI say the database will reduce terrorist and criminal activities.
The facial recognition database is part of the bureau's Next Generation Identification (NGI) programme which is a large biometric database being developed to replace the current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).
The programme, which is being rolled out over a number of years, will offer "state of the art biometric identification services" according to the bureau's website.
As well as facial recognition images the programme is being developed to include the capture and storage of finger prints, iris scans and palm prints.
EFF said that the records it had seen showed the facial recognition element of the NGI already contained 16m images by 2013 and had the capability to contain as many as 52m by 2015.
In the current system, the fingerprints of criminals and non-criminals are kept in separate databases. Non-criminals may have their prints stored by the FBI if they have applied for a job that requires fingerprints for a background check.
However, under the new system if a candidate is asked by an employer to submit a photo along with their fingerprints this will now be stored by the FBI, too. The difference is that all photos will be stored on the same database regardless of whether someone has been arrested for a crime.
"This means that even if you have never been arrested for a crime, if your employer requires you to submit a photo as part of your background check, your face image could be searched - and you could be implicated as a criminal suspect, just by virtue of having that image in the non-criminal file," said the EFF.
It says documents from the FBI show that 4.3m photos contained in the database by 2015 will be for non-criminal purposes.
The group also cites research that shows the risk of falsely identifying someone increases as the size of the dataset being examined increases.
"This means that many people will be presented as suspects for crimes they didn't commit."
At a US senate subcommittee meeting held in 2012 to discuss the privacy implications of facial recognition technology, the official in charge of the NGI programme at the time said the the FBI intended to limit the system to criminal information.
It was also stressed that annual audits of local agencies' systems will be carried out to "detect any type of misuse" and that the FBI would back this up with their own audits.
The EFF points out that the Privacy Impact Assessment for the facial recognition element of NGI has not been updated since 2008.
"This is not how our system of justice was designed and should not be a system that Americans tacitly consent to move towards," the EFF said.


One of the grandsons of Soviet leader Josef Stalin has been found dead in the Russian capital Moscow, ambulance officials say.

The body of Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, 80, was found close to his home in the city. The cause of death is unclear.
Mr Dzhugashvili was an outspoken defender of his grandfather's legacy, frequently using the courts to do so.
In 2015 he lost a case relating to the 1940 Katyn massacre of Polish prisoners at the European Court of Human Rights.
The court rejected a complaint brought by Mr Dzhugashvili over an article accusing the Soviet leader of being a "bloodthirsty cannibal".
Published in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the article said Soviet leaders including Stalin were "bound by much blood" by ordering the execution of about 20,000 Polish prisoners of war at Katyn.
Mr Dzhugashvili argued that the article blackened his grandfather's reputation and was defamatory. He took his case to the European court after various courts in Russia threw it out.
He also argued that the Soviet Union would not have gone downhill if his father lived longer. More recently he accused President Putin of being "without brains".
Revealing the horror of Stalin
Stalin 'used secret laboratory to analyse Mao's excrement'
Ensuring Stalin's victims are not forgotten (video)
Western biographies of Stalin record three children - Yakov by his first wife Ekaterina and a son and a daughter - Vasily and Svetlana - by his second wife Nadezhda.
Both sons are dead. Svetlana defected from the Soviet Union in 1966 and died in 2011 in the US.
Stalin was thought to have at least eight grandchildren.


A former head of the European Commission's customs procedures unit has claimed that controls at the Irish border will return post-Brexit.

Theresa May has said Brexit means leaving the European Customs Union.
It currently allows tariff and paperwork-free trade between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
Michael Lux said "red and green lanes" could be introduced as a form of customs control.
"So there would be two lanes for vehicles; a green one where you are only occasionally stopped and a red lane if you carry goods above the threshold," he told the BBC's Inside Business programme.
"Such a system can be established between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland."
Theresa May has reiterated the government's determination to avoid any return to "the borders of the past".
On Friday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told RTÃ‰ that "papers are being prepared" on ways to minimise border customs checks.
A customs union is a form of trade agreement between two or more countries.
It means they decide not to impose tariffs (taxes on imports) on each other's goods and agree to impose common external tariffs on goods from countries outside their customs union.
Setting common external tariffs is what distinguishes a customs union from a free trade area.
The key argument for leaving the customs union is that it will allow the UK to negotiate its own trade agreements.
Michael Lux suggested the Norwegian-Swedish border could be recreated on the island of Ireland.
"In principle, there will be Irish and UK customs officials on either side of the border," he said.
"But they could agree to create only one stop and officials from both sides deal with the matter or one country allows the other to act on their behalf."
Last October, former first minister Arlene Foster said she didn't foresee a time when heavy goods vehicles would be stopped and searched post-Brexit.
But Mr Lux said it was unrealistic to expect no delays at the border with the Republic of Ireland.
"Yes it can be done electronically with an export declaration, but from time to time, there must be controls."
Inside Business will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster at 13:30 GMT on Sunday.


Labour's leadership election will go ahead with the exclusion of about 130,000 new members after five of them dropped a legal challenge against the decision to bar them.

On Friday the Court of Appeal ruled Labour was within its rights to stop some new members voting in the contest between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith.
It overturned an earlier High Court ruling that the ban was unlawful.
The five members said they would not take their case to the Supreme Court.
The National Executive Committee (NEC), the body that governs the Labour Party, ruled that full members could only vote if they had at least six months' continuous membership by 12 July.
The party offered a window from 18-20 July when more recent members - and non-members - could pay £25 to become "registered supporters" and gain the right to vote.
The exclusion of the new members is thought to benefit Mr Smith.
The five who challenged the NEC's ruling - Christine Evangelou, Rev Edward Leir, Hannah Fordham, Chris Granger and "FM", a teenage member - have raised £93,572 in donations but said they could not afford to take the case further.
In a message posted on their crowdfunding website, Ms Fordham said: "But the case wasn't in vain - although we didn't succeed in reclaiming votes for the 130,000 disenfranchised members, we did win in the High Court, exposing facts which have spurred important conversations about the role of the Labour Party membership and the NEC."
She added that the money raised would cover their legal fees and the £30,000 in costs they had been ordered to pay to the NEC, which brought the challenge against the High Court ruling.
The campaign team of party leader Mr Corbyn praised the efforts of the five members who initially brought the case to court.
A Jeremy for Labour spokesman said: "The strength of solidarity shown to the five claimants campaigning for the democratic rights of their fellow Labour party members has been truly remarkable.
"It is clear that there exists a huge amount of support for Jeremy's vision of a democratic Labour Party that is open and inclusive for all, so that we can achieve a Labour Government that can transform and rebuild Britain so that nowhere and no-one is left behind."
Speaking before the five members dropped their case, in an interview with the Observer, Mr Corbyn refused to express full confidence in the party's general secretary, Ian McNichol, who was a key figure in the NEC's appeal.
Asked twice if he had full confidence in Mr McNicol, Mr Corbyn repeatedly stated: "I have been happy to work with Iain McNicol since I became leader."
The Supreme Court said it would have cost about £1,000 for the case to be heard.
Ms Fordham had said it would cost about £8,000 "for getting the case even heard", but it was not clear if she was also referring to lawyers' fees.