SO-called new guidance for people living in Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley has caused anger and confusion among the communities.

The new advice published on the goverment's website in recent days, which urges people to meet outdoors wherever possible and not to travel outside of affected areas includes the two places in East Lancashire but has so far been met with anger as people struggle to understand it.

Even Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council deputy leader Councillor Phil Riley said: "While the numbers are increasing, all the evidence is that the cases are very much concentrated amongst teenagers and young people.

"That is what we expected because clearly the vaccine hasn't arrived there yet."

After the story was published in The Lancashire Telegraph, comments flooded in and people expressed their anger at not having the news confirmed with an official announcement.

Since then, Number 10 confirmed the guidance on no travel was not law, but it was simply guidance in hotspot areas.

In other affected areas, Leicester's director of public health said government officials told him there had been "a mistake" and now his counterpart in North Tyneside says she has received assurance "there are no local lockdowns".

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Dave Hollings said: “The government is claiming it issued this guidance on 14 May. But no-one knew about it - not local councils, not local public health officers, not the general public.

“So, if we have managed for 11 days without following this guidance and the government never bothered that we weren't following the guidance, it can't be that worth bothering about.

Nicola Louise Reay said: “I walked from card factory Blackburn to body shop and counted 11 people (1 exempt) not wearing a mask properly or on their chin, including workers.

“It’s pretty pointless putting anything in place if nobody is going to follow it.”

Amanda Webber said: “Just as people start moving around more, taking little breaks in the countryside, travelling to see relatives and making arrangements to travel in this country they decide to put this out there with no government briefing with the rest of the country to back it up.

“People will still be travelling into the boroughs because they haven’t told everyone.”

Sacha Fox said: “So you tell hundreds of families not to take their half term holidays paid up for and already postponed.

“Most holiday companies won't refund as it is too late notice to get another booking. I can't see families staying home and losing 100s of pounds to abide by some casually announced guidance slipped in on the internet.”

Anne Gardiner said: “The government didn’t close the border when they knew that there was a variant and now, we have to suffer as we will probably go into lockdown again here. Absolutely sick of it.”

Ann Cox said: "Now they are saying it's all a mistake but what part of it?

"Lots of people are going away this weekend and we need to know before cancelling.

"The Labour MP for Leicester had an emergency question in Parliament at 12.30 asking this. Now they are saying its not correct. Was put on gov.website Friday night but nobody been notified."

Nicholas Pope said: "A minority of a borough are keeping us in a perpetual lockdown and it appears to be the same areas over and over.

"Corden of those areas use the military and police to patrol them and let the rest of us get on with our lives."

The affected areas are Bedford Borough Council, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, Burnley Borough Council, Kirklees Council, Leicester City Council, London Borough of Hounslow and North Tyneside Council.