Almost 3,000 cases of the Indian coronavirus variant of concern have been identified as Burnley becomes one of six areas to receive surge testing and vaccinations.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that surge testing and extra vaccine supplies were being deployed in a series of areas to control the spread of the highly-transmissible strain.

There will now be surge testing and vaccinations in Burnley, Bedford, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside, while the Scottish authorities are taking similar action in Glasgow and Moray.

The health secretary said: “What this means in practice is we are putting in place more testing and more testing sites.

“And on vaccinations, we are making more vaccinations available to everyone who is eligible.”

Mr Hancock said 2,967 cases of the B1617.2 variant had been identified, more than 600 more than the 2,323 declared on Monday.

Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton have been the two worst hit areas where it has become the dominant strain.

“In the last week across Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen we have given 26,094 jabs as well as delivering 75,000 extra tests,” Mr Hancock added.

The latest figures came with the Government under fire over its inability to prevent the variant arriving in the UK, as Labour claimed the border has been “like a sieve” throughout the pandemic.

He has insisted the Government took “prompt” action to put India on the red list, but he has been dogged by questions about whether the decision was delayed because of his planned trade trip to the country in April.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister defended the Government’s actions over restrictions on Indian travel.

He told reporters: “India was put on the red list before this was even a variant under investigation, let alone a variant of concern.

“So we took prompt action and we will continue to take very, very draconian action in respect of all variants coming from wherever around the world.”