People are being warned not to travel into and out of the London borough of Hounslow unless for essential journeys as surge testing for the Indian Covid-19 variant continues in the region.

New Government advice states that due to increased cases of the variant in Hounslow only journeys that are necessary for work and education should be made.

While the borough of Kingston does not border Hounslow, it does have two key bus links which connect the regions, the 111 and 281.

There are currently eight 'hotspots' of the new variant in the UK, though Hounslow is the only region with significant cases near London.

Surge testing is currently taking place in several other boroughs including Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent.

The new Government advice was issued on Friday but not formally announced, leading to criticism from some MPs and confusion among members of the public.

Kingston Council have not made a statement on this at the time of writing.

Nub News will continue to bring you updates on this story.

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