Burnley in Tier 3: MP in talks with data scientists to see how town moves forward

Mr Higginbotham said he was going to spend the coming days talking to data scientists in order to understand fully why Burnley and Padiham was placed in Tier 3.

"We've made some real progress over the past few weeks but as you can see our figures are still too high," he said.

"That's why it's important not to take the positive figures we are seeing for granted. We need to continue to do everything we can to protect our health service and educational settings.

"And I'll be doing everything I can to ensure that by the time of the next review, which takes place on December 16th, our borough has continued to see a fall in coronavirus cases.

"This is the progress Government has told me we need to see, amongst the five indicators, to move down in to at least Tier 2.

"Finally I know this continues to be incredibly frustrating for everyone, but there is hope ahead with mass testing and the promise of a successful vaccine.