Coronavirus: Leicester travel ban could be imposed if people try to leave city, Matt Hancock warns

Tougher action on the way if frustrated residents head for 'Super Saturday' reopening in nearby Derby or Nottingham

A travel-ban will be introduced in crisis-hit Leicester if its people disobey the new local lockdown rules imposed on the city, Matt Hancock is warning.

The health secretary said he expected its citizens to abide by a voluntary call for them not to leave for neighbouring places, because “they want to get their city back to normal”.

“We are not putting that in place in law at this stage,” he said, but he added: “Of course, we will if we have to.”

The warning came as Mr Hancock denied he had acted too slowly in imposing the fresh restrictions, acknowledging it was 11 days since he first was first alerted to a coronavirus spike.

He had been “monitoring it incredibly closely”, ramping up testing, including in workplaces with infections, and some schools in Leicester had already closed.

“These sorts of much more targeted measures have worked in other outbreaks,” Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast.

“Unfortunately, that targeted action isn’t working in Leicester, that’s why we have taken the much broader measures. We have been on it.”

The emergency crackdown in Leicester follows the revelation that one in 10 new infections nationwide are happening in the city

Non-essential shops will shut and remain closed for the foreseeable future, most schools will be closed from Thursday and plans to relax shielding measures for the most vulnerable have been shelved.

With the city’s pubs, bars and restaurants no longer permitted to reopen this weekend, there are fears of people flocking to nearby Derby and Nottingham, for example.

Asked about that risk, Mr Hancock said he was ready to “make further changes if I need to”.

But he argued: “I’ve seen what people did during the lockdown across the whole country and people in very, very large numbers, large proportions, followed the rules.

“And I think that’s what people will do in Leicester because they want to get their city back up and back to normal.”

With Covid-19 cases reported to be rising in 36 cities and counties across England, other local areas could yet face similar restrictions.

But Mr Hancock appeared to play down suggestions of extensions to the furlough scheme in such areas, saying: “We’ve also put in money to the local councils so that on a discretionary basis they can use that to support people who need further support.”Asked about possible causes for the spike – such as poverty, higher ethnic diversity, language difficulties and higher-density housing – Mr Hancock did not dismiss them.

“We are still doing the work to understand exactly why the outbreak has been so bad in Leicester,” he explained.

“But lots of the reasons that you mentioned just then are familiar to me and people will find them intuitive.”