Kingston residents can travel into and out of the London borough of Hounslow as health chiefs have now clarified there is no 'local lockdown' or extra travel restrictions in the area.

As we reported earlier, the Government issued guidance last Friday encouraging people not to make unnecessary journeys to areas in the UK which have high cases of the Indian Covid-19 variant, including the London borough of Hounslow which has bus links to Kingston.

But after a meeting with government officials today, the Directors of Public Health at the Councils covering the eight variant 'hotspots' have put out a joint statement stating that people are free to travel into the areas whether or not their journeys are deemed essential for work or education.

They 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.

"In areas where the new Covid variant is spreading we are all working together to boost testing and vaccination and to support self-isolation.

"There are sensible public health precautions people can take as individuals in line with the sorts of advice we have all been following throughout the pandemic.

"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."

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