Case rates are continuing to fall in all English regions, according to the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health England. But in 13 of the country’s 315 local areas (4%) there has been a rise in case rates. 301 (96%) have seen a fall and one is unchanged.

Bassetlaw, Derbyshire and Fylde have seen the biggest week-on-week rises, with the former rising by more than 150 new cases per 10,000 people, from 224.8 to 374.6.

The remaining top 10 areas are: Boston, Wakefield, Bradford, South Derbyshire, Barnsley, Rushcliffe, East Northamptonshire,

London’s rate of new cases stood at 435.0 per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 24, down from 658.7 in the previous week. But the capital continues to have the highest rate of any region.

The West Midlands recorded the second highest rate: 415.8, down from 565.6.

Yorkshire & the Humber continues to have the lowest rate: 230.2, down from 256.4.

The 10 areas with the biggest week-on-week case rises

Bassetlaw (up from 224.8 to 374.6)

Derbyshire Dales (199.1 to 279.3)

Fylde (299.6 to 354.0)

Boston (168.2 to 213.8)

Wakefield (230.0 to 254.9)

Bradford (274.4 to 296.2)

South Derbyshire (354.3 to 374.8)

Barnsley (246.3 to 263.7)

Rushcliffe (255.9 to 271.0)

East Northamptonshire (295.2 to 306.8)

On Wednesday night, Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance was cautiously optimistic about lockdown working, though he said that one in 55 people are currently estimated to have the virus.

He told the Downing Street press conference: ‘We are at a position where the lockdowns have worked, they’ve slowed this down, they’ve reached a position where it has reached a plateau and is beginning to decline – and we see that in cases, we’re beginning to see that in hospital admissions and we’re beginning to see that in deaths – but it is early days.’

Knowsley in Merseyside continues to have the highest rate in England, with 1,171 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 24 – the equivalent of 776.2 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down from 1,067.2 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 17.

Sandwell in the West Midlands has the second highest rate, down from 923.7 to 704.2, with 2,313 new cases.

Slough in Berkshire is in third place, down from 986.4 to 671.4, with 1,004 new cases.

Torridge, in North Devon, has the lowest rate – 54.2 down from 63.0.

The figures, for the seven days to January 24, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two) and are compiled by the PA News Agency.

Data for the most recent four days (January 25-28) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.