Coronavirus infection rates across the whole of East Lancashire continue to fall, after weeks of non-stop increases.

In the latest figures, for the seven days to January 16, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, the Ribble Valley and Rossendale all saw their infections rates drop significantly. 

However, the region is not out of the woods yet, as all of East Lancashire's boroughs remain high up the infection rate leaderboard, with Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle sitting in the top 50. 

Of the 315 local areas in England, 17 (5 per cent) have seen a rise in case rates, 296 (94 per cent) have seen a fall and two are unchanged.

Knowsley in Merseyside continues to have the highest rate in England, with 1,666 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 16 – the equivalent of 1,104.3 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down from 1,404.6 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 9.

Slough in Berkshire has the second highest rate, down from 1,110.7 to 1,016.5, with 1,520 new cases.

Sandwell in the West Midlands is in third place, down from 963.0 to 928.6, with 3,050 new cases.

The infection rates for each area in East Lancashire, for the seven days to January 16 are:

Burnley, 758.0, (674), 976.2, (868)

Hyndburn, 710.7, (576), 737.9, (598)

Pendle, 670.9, (618), 832.7, (767)

Blackburn with Darwen, 664.0, (994), 741.5, (1110)

Rossendale, 514.8, (368), 566.6, (405)

Ribble Valley, 499.3, (304), 591.2, (360)

Of the remaining boroughs in Lancashire, South Ribble's infection rate remains unchanged, while only Preston and Blackpool have recorded increases in their infection rates in the seven days to January 16.

Fylde, Lancaster, West Lancashire, Chorley and Wyre have all seen a decrease in their rates.

The infection rates in the remaining eight Lancashire boroughs are as follows:

Lancaster, 499.2, (729), 514.2, (751)

Preston, 497.4, (712), 460.4, (659)

West Lancashire, 482.9, (552), 489.9, (560)

South Ribble, 475.7, (527), 475.7, (527)

Chorley, 358.7, (424), 399.3, (472)

Wyre, 356.9, (400), 448.7, (503)

Blackpool, 314.8, (439), 311.9, (435)

Fylde, 308.2, (249), 330.5, (267)

The 10 areas with the biggest week-on-week rise in rates are:

1. Redditch (up from 615.8 to 686.1)

2. Erewash (417.8 to 456.8)

3. Malvern Hills (302.4 to 340.5)

4. Preston (460.4 to 497.4)

5. Somerset West & Taunton (368.1 to 404.2)

6. West Devon (125.5 to 157.7)

7. Plymouth (297.6 to 326.6)

8. Ryedale (279.9 to 307.0)

9. North West Leicestershire (353.2 to 378.3)

10. South Holland (288.4 to 309.4)