Two areas of East Lancashire now have the second and fourth highest coronavirus infection rates in the whole country, due to the continued increase in the prevalence of the Indian variant.

The latest figures have revealed that Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley have seen some of the biggest week-on-week rises in infection rates, behind Bolton and Bedford respectively. 

Blackburn with Darwen's infection rate jumped from 104.9 cases per 100,000 people to 159.7 after 239 new cases were detected.

Burnley's rate rose to 61.9 in the seven days to May 16 compared with 32.6 in the seven days to May 9.

Chorley sits in 9th place, Hyndburn 11th and Preston 14th.

The news comes after Downing Street denied that a NHS Test and Trace delay in alerting local authorities in hotspot areas to positive cases helped contribute to the spread of the Indian variant.

The denail followed a report by the BBC that for three weeks in April and May, eight local authorities in England – including Blackburn with Darwen which was worst affected – did not have access to the full data on positive tests in their area, meaning more than 700 cases were not reported and traced locally.

Surge testing and vaccinating has been taking place in Blackburn along with a number of other impacted areas in the UK, including Burnley, after cases of the B1617.2 mutation increased.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 122 have seen a rise in rates, 182 have seen a fall and 11 are unchanged.

Bolton in Greater Manchester continues to have the highest rate, with 982 new cases in the seven days to May 16 – the equivalent of 341.5 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 189.2 in the seven days to May 9.

Bedford has the third highest, up from 82.5 to 123.5, with 214 new cases.

The five areas with the biggest week-on-week rises are:

Bolton (up from 189.2 to 341.5)

Blackburn with Darwen (104.9 to 159.7)

Bedford (82.5 to 123.5)

Burnley (32.6 to 61.9)

Bury (16.8 to 43.5)

Ten of Lancashire's 14 boroughs have seen increases in their infection rates in the seven days to May 16.

However, comparatively, Pendle, Rossendale, Blackpool, Lancaster, South Ribble, Wyre, Ribble Valley, West Lancashire and Fylde all have relatively low rates.

The rates for all 14 boroughs in Lancashire are as follows:

Blackburn with Darwen, 159.7, (239), 104.9, (157)

Burnley, 61.9, (55), 32.6, (29)

Chorley, 48.2, (57), 26.2, (31)

Hyndburn, 45.7, (37), 37.0, (30)

Preston, 44.0, (63), 31.4, (45)

Pendle, 39.1, (36), 35.8, (33)

Rossendale, 35.0, (25), 16.8, (12)

Blackpool, 31.6, (44), 25.1, (35)

Lancaster, 24.7, (36), 32.2, (47)

South Ribble, 19.0, (21), 18.1, (20)

Wyre, 18.7, (21), 17.8, (20)

Ribble Valley, 16.4, (10), 18.1, (11)

West Lancashire, 11.4, (13), 10.5, (12)

Fylde, 9.9, (8), 22.3, (18)