The Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, has urged people from Blackburn with Darwen not to travel into Wales over the bank holiday unless they test negative for Covid-19.

The Welsh Government said the message was directed at would-be holidaymakers including those from areas of England with high levels of the Indian variant in order to “help keep Wales safe”.

The UK Government has advised people living Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside to minimise travel out of their areas due to circulation of the mutated strain of Covid-19.

But Westminster has stopped short of restricting people from being able to travel out of the eight areas, with the late spring bank holiday weekend starting on Saturday.

On Wednesday Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told BBC Breakfast he would not ask people living in Bolton to “rip up plans” to travel to Wales but to “try to minimise travel”.

Later on Wednesday, Mr Drakeford said: “Our tourism businesses will be looking forward to a busy week and the start of the summer season.

“I urge anyone planning a break in Wales from an area with higher rates of coronavirus, to test themselves regularly, using the free Covid-19 lateral flow tests, before they travel.

“Only those who have a negative test result and no symptoms of coronavirus should travel.

“Everyone coming to Wales from areas with a higher prevalence of coronavirus should bring lateral flow testing kits with them to continue regular testing while on holiday – this is an additional measure to help keep Wales safe.”

There have been more than 3,200 cases of the India variant identified in England, while there are 57 cases in Wales.

On Monday Wales’ chief medical officer Frank Atherton said the number of cases of the variant in Wales was an underestimate and is expected to rise.

The biggest number of cases of the variant are located in clusters around Cardiff, with others also located in Swansea and a “small number” in North Wales.

But unlike in England and Scotland there is no evidence of widespread transmissions of the variant from person-to-person in Wales, with all identified cases able to be traced back to a point of entry into the country.

Meanwhile, a total of 3,180 new UK cases of Covid-19 were reported on Wednesday, the highest daily number since April 12.

Officals say is too soon to say whether this is part of a consistent upwards trend, however.

The number of cases reported each day has been broadly flat for the past month, sometimes dipping below 2,000 (most recently on May 17) but mostly staying between 2,000 and 3,000.

The seven-day rolling average has crept upwards slightly in recent days, but more data is needed to see whether this is the start of a continuous nationwide increase and not simply a short-term response to a spike in cases in a few hotspots.

Separate data for cases by local area suggests that only a small number of places in the UK are currently recording a rise in cases that is greater than the usual day-to-day fluctuation in numbers.

Blackburn with Darwen recorded a week-on-week rise in rates of 168.3 (up from 145.0 cases per 100,000 people to 313.3), Clackmannanshire in Scotland saw a rise of 131.9 (from 29.1 to 161.0), and Bolton in Greater Manchester saw a rise of 125.5 (from 321.7 to 447.2).

Meanwhile, case rates in the vast majority of areas continue to remain at levels last seen in late summer or early autumn 2020, with around four in five areas currently recording rates below 30 cases per 100,000.

Wednesday's jump in the number of reported cases does not reflect a nationwide trend and, although cases have risen in some areas of the UK, it is too early to say whether these localised spikes are part of a broader pattern that could be linked to the recent easing of lockdown restrictions.