Swindon has been taken off the government’s coronavirus watchlist.

It follows a significant drop in new cases despite covid rates increasingly nationally.

Over the past week Swindon has seen fewer than 30 new covid cases – down significantly on the peak last month when officials battled 130 new cases per week.

Swindon Borough Council director of public health Steve Maddern said: “Although we are coming off the watchlist we must still not become complacent.

“A lot of work has happened to allow us to get to where we are but we can’t relax. We need to very much focus on keeping that rate low particularly as we see the rate in England increase.”

He urged people to “do the right thing”.

“There are no shortcuts to protecting ourselves, our loved ones and our broader communities,” he added.

“We don’t want to undo all the hard work that we’ve done and see the rates increasing.”