UPDATE: Bedfordshire records 2,500 cases of coronavirus over Christmas period

Between Christmas Eve and yesterday, the county recorded 2,500 new cases of coronavirus, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

Out of the 2,500, Bedford recorded 791 new cases with a new total of 5,663; Central Bedfordshire recorded 1,019 with a new total of 7,140; and Luton recorded 690 cases with a new total of 9,203.

There five deaths in Bedford (238), nine deaths in Central Bedfordshire (297), and 15 deaths in Luton (260).

The town is now in the newly created Tier 4 with the rest of the county - which is effectively a full lockdown - with nearby Luton currently recording over 3,500 more cases than Bedford.

Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire now has 13,946 cases of Covid, Hertfordshire has 34,002 and Milton Keynes has 8,995 cases.

The new figures are recorded between 5pm the previous day to 5pm and unfortunately don't include the number of patients recovered from Covid-19.

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases now stands at 2,329,730. The number of deaths is 71,109.

The figures come from the Government website which is available for the public to view here