Public Health England statistics have revealed that Mendip has the second lowest coronavirus infection rate in England.

The area, which covers Shepton Mallet, has a rate of 56.6 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people, and there have been a total of 65 cases in the district since the crisis began.

As of 4pm yesterday (June 7), only Torridge in Devon has a lower rate at 52.8 cases per 100,000 people, and a total of 36 cases.

Hastings in Sussex has a lower number of total cases than Mendip, at 55, but its infection rate is higher at 59.2.

These figures only include local authorities in England, not unitary authorities such as Bath and North East Somerset or North Somerset.

Yesterday, the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in England was 77, bringing the total number of deaths of people in the UK who have had a positive test result to 40,542.

The number of lab-confirmed UK coronavirus cases was 1,326, with the total number across the UK now standing at 286,194.