BLACKBURN with Darwen has the second highest rolling seven-day rate of new cases of coronavirus in England.

There have been 960 new cases of covid-19 in the borough in the week up to October 19.

This has raised the rate of number of cases per 100,000 people in the area to 634.6, up from the previous week's figure of 466.3.

Rossendale is in third place, having seen the largest increase in its rate from 362.3 to 607.1, with 434 new cases.

In Knowsley, 999 new cases were recorded in the seven days to October 19, the equivalent of 662.2 cases per 100,000 people - the highest rate in England.

But this is down from 719.9 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to October 12.

Burnley sits in ninth position in the country, Ribble Valley is 12th, West Lancashire is 16th, Blackpool is 18th and Pendle is 20th.

Liverpool and Nottingham, in fourth and fifth place respectively, have both seen significant drops in their rates.

Case rates have also continued to decrease in the cities of Newcastle, Exeter, Sheffield, Manchester and Oxford.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on October 23 on the Government's coronavirus dashboard.

The figures, for the seven days to October 19, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data for the most recent four days (October 20-23) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Here is the top 20 of the list. From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 19; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 19; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 12; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 12.

Knowsley 662.2 (999), 719.9 (1086)

Blackburn with Darwen 634.6 (950), 466.3 (698)

Rossendale 607.1 (434), 362.3 (259)

Liverpool 571.6 (2847), 690.7 (3440)

Nottingham 563.8 (1877), 895.2 (2980)

Rochdale 534.6 (1189), 436.6 (971)

Salford 514.2 (1331), 408.8 (1058)

Oldham 504.8 (1197), 387.6 (919)

Burnley 493.7 (439), 587.0 (522)

Wigan 493.2 (1621), 427.5 (1405)

Barnsley 489.7 (1209), 326.5 (806)

Ribble Valley 482.9 (294), 289.1 (176)

Bolton 474.0 (1363), 352.3 (1013)

St Helens 464.0 (838), 446.9 (807)

Manchester 459.6 (2541), 462.5 (2557)

West Lancashire 448.8 (513), 489.0 (559)

Blackpool 445.3 (621), 314.8 (439)

Sefton 445.0 (1230), 486.2 (1344)

Bury 439.8 (840), 402.1 (768)

Pendle 432.1 (398), 498.3 (459)