An unlikely part of East Lancashire that has managed to escape soaring levels of coronavirus cases for months, is now sitting in the top 20 areas with the highest infection rates in England.

Along with Blackburn with Darwen (4th), Burnley (6th), Rossendale (5th) and Pendle (14th), the Ribble Valley is now sitting in 20th place on the list, with Blackburn with Darwen overtaking Burnley, as new rolling seven-day rates of infection figures were released on Wednesday.

Blackburn with Darwen now had the fourth highest rate of infection behind only Knowsley, Nottingham and Liverpool.

Rossendale has the fifth highest, Burnley the sixth and Pendle the 14th.

The rolling seven-day rate of new Covid-19 cases, published today, detail figures for the seven days to October 17, 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 18 to October 21 has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Rossendale's rate of infection has jumped from 334.3 to 514.8 with 368 new cases in the seven days to October 16, and Blackburn with Darwen's rate has increased from 436.2 to 556.5, with 833 new positive tests in the seven days to October 16.

In a twist of events though, Burnley's infection rate has actually dropped, from 571.3 cases per 100,00 people to 502.7 cases per 100,000 people.

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.

Knowsley 666.8 (1006), 709.3 (1070)

Nottingham 639.5 (2129), 975.1 (3246)

Liverpool 596.3 (2970), 691.7 (3445)

Blackburn with Darwen 556.5 (833), 436.2 (653)

Rossendale 514.8 (368), 334.3 (239)

Burnley 502.7 (447), 571.3 (508)

Rochdale 486.5 (1082), 417.2 (928)

West Lancashire 466.3 (533), 455.8 (521)

Salford 461.7 (1195), 391.0 (1012)

Wigan 459.4 (1510), 401.0 (1318)

Oldham 447.5 (1061), 390.5 (926)

Sefton 438.8 (1213), 479.7 (1326)

Bolton 436.4 (1255), 323.1 (929)

Pendle 434.3 (400), 456.0 (420)

Blackpool 427.4 (596), 276.1 (385)

Manchester 426.0 (2355), 484.0 (2676)

Barnsley 423.3 (1045), 264.5 (653)

St. Helens 420.3 (759), 455.7 (823)

Bury 415.7 (794), 374.4 (715)

Ribble Valley 413.9 (252), 294.0 (179)

Case rates have continued to decrease in Knowsley, Nottingham and Liverpool, as well as Newcastle, Exeter, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and Oxford.