Four of East Lancashire's boroughs remain in the top 20 areas with the highest coronavirus infection rates in England.

Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rossendale and Pendle all feature highly in the list, with Burnley having the fourth highest rate of infection behind only Nottingham, Knowsley and Liverpool.

The rolling seven-day rate of new Covid-19 cases, published today, detail figures for the seven days to October 16, and are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and tests in the wider community (pillar two).

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data from October 17 to October 20 has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Areas recording big jumps in their seven-day rates include Rossendale, which is up from 335.7 to 474.2, with 339 new cases; Blackpool, which is up from 270.4 to 390.1, with 544 new cases; and Barnsley, which is up from 254.0 to 388.9, with 960 new cases.

The list is based on Public Health England data published on October 20 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

The top 20 list, from left to right, reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 16; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 16; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 9; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 9.

Nottingham 672.0 (2237), 987.1 (3286)

Knowsley 664.8 (1003), 730.5 (1102)

Liverpool 596.9 (2973), 692.1 (3447)

Burnley 526.3 (468), 566.8 (504)

Blackburn with Darwen 523.7 (784), 417.5 (625)

Rochdale 476.6 (1060), 407.8 (907)

Rossendale 474.2 (339), 335.7 (240)

Wigan 452.7 (1488), 390.1 (1282)

West Lancashire 447.9 (512), 456.7 (522)

Pendle 436.4 (402), 437.5 (403)

Sefton 430.5 (1190), 478.3 (1322)

Salford 428.5 (1109), 393.3 (1018)

Oldham 422.6 (1002), 389.3 (923)

Manchester 421.6 (2331), 498.7 (2757)

St. Helens 417.5 (754), 444.7 (803)

Bolton 413.8 (1190), 311.6 (896)

Sheffield 406.1 (2375), 466.6 (2729)

Bury 405.8 (775), 367.0 (701)

Preston 392.6 (562), 353.5 (506)

Blackpool 390.1 (544), 270.4 (377)

The Ribble Valley sits 25th on the list with Hyndburn sitting 31st.

Their infection rates for the last seven days to October 16 are:

Ribble Valley 369.5 (225), 307.1 (187)

Hyndburn 351.7 (285), 340.6 (276)

The latest infection rates also show that numbers are falling in the areas with the highest rates in England - mainly big cities.

In Nottingham, 2,237 new cases were recorded in the seven days to October 16 – the equivalent of 672.0 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down from 987.1 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to October 9.

Knowsley has the second highest rate, but this is down from 730.5 to 664.8, with 1,003 new cases.

Liverpool is in third place, where the rate has dropped from 692.1 to 596.9, with 2,973 new cases.

Case rates have also fallen in the cities of Newcastle, Exeter, Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds.