GUIDANCE for Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley and six other areas considered hotspots for the Indian variant of coronavirus is to be updated.

The government has said that will be done to make clear there are no local lockdowns imposed.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it would instead be issuing advice to those living in Burnley, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Bolton, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside after ministers were accused of bringing in rules on socialising and travelling “by stealth” and insisted lockdown measures were not being put in place.

A government spokesperson said: “We will be updating the guidance for areas where the new Covid-19 variant is spreading to make it clearer we are not imposing local restrictions.

“Instead, we are providing advice on the additional precautions people can take to protect themselves and others in those areas where the new variant is prevalent.”

This includes urging people to meet outdoors rather than indoors, staying two metres apart from people not in the same household, and minimising travel in and out of the area.

The spokesperson said: “These are not new regulations but they are some of the ways everyone can help bring the variant under control in their local area.”

The move comes after a day of confusion over the measures, which appeared on the government website on Friday, but without an official announcement.

Local leaders in the eight areas said they were unaware of any change.

In a joint statement released earlier on Tuesday the directors of public health in the affected areas effectively said the advice could be disregarded, saying it had been confirmed there is no restriction on travel in and out of the areas.

The statement said: “Following the national coverage of recently revised guidance we have met with national officials and confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of each of our areas: there are no local lockdowns."

They added: “We will keep sharing that and working with national officials to make sure people understand what they need to think about as they go about their daily lives.”

No 10 stressed that the guidance was “not statutory” and the Government wanted to move away from “top-down edicts” as lockdown eases.

But ministers came under fire for what Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham labelled a “fairly major communications error” which had caused “huge amounts of confusion”.

The mixed messaging prompted the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus to urge the Government to return to daily televised press briefings on the pandemic.

Dr Dan Poulter, vice-chairman of the group, said: “Over a year into the pandemic, the Government’s public health messaging needs to be clearer.

“People are being asked to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of information. What we need is much clearer information about the Government’s plans to keep the Indian variant under control, what local measures may remain in place and for how long, and whether they will be legally binding.

“It would help if the Government committed to daily press briefings as we approach June 21, as well as ensuring any local guidance is made available on the NHS Covid app.”