VACCINES must be distributed 'according to need', an MP has said, after figures revealed coronavirus-hit Blackburn with Darwen to be England's tenth worst-off borough.

The statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics, show that over 20 per cent of people living in the borough were classified as "income deprived", with 50 local neighbourhoods amongst the worst-off in England and just eight amongst the best-off.

This comes after persistent high rates of infections in the borough, which coinciding with high rates of economic deprivation has meant that the impact of the pandemic has been particularly devastating for local jobs and businesses, with Blackburn Labour MP Kate Hollern calling on the government to recognise this and prioritise the town accordingly.

Mrs Hollern said: "With three weeks to go until restrictions are lifted, if the government surge vaccines according to need I see no reason why businesses in Blackburn cannot reopen fully.

"Our businesses have been under additional restrictions for longer than anywhere else in the country and many of them won't survive another lockdown."

Overall the ONS study found that Blackburn 21.2 per cent of Blackburn with Darwen's population was income deprived, leaving in the tenth most deprived borough out of 316.

Average income in the borough was found to be just £13,741, which comes to 0.65 per cent of the national average, while productivity was found to be at 0.80 per cent of the national average.

Blackburn with Darwen was also found to be the most deprived borough in East Lancashire, with Burnley the 13th worst off in England, Hyndburn the 34th, Pendle the 46th, Rossendale the 81st and the Ribble Valley being far better off with just 5.7 per cent of its population classed as income deprived, leaving the borough the 298th most deprived in England overall.

Mrs Hollern pointed out that the town had treated unequally where response to the pandemic was concerned, with the government appearing to prioritise areas like those around Twickenham, located in the London borough of Richmond-upon-Thames where just six per cent of people were deemed to be deprived.

She said: "We need a Twickenham style vaccination programme in Blackburn urgently.

"The government made up over 10,000 vaccines available over the weekend in Twickenham but will only provide Blackburn with 14,000 additional vaccines over two weeks despite the request for more.

"The rapidly spreading infection in Blackburn is a direct result of the government's failure to prioritise areas with the higher rates."