Prime Minister Boris Johnson has backed his under-fire top aide Dominic Cummings after he travelled 260 miles to Durham while experiencing coronavirus symptoms.

Mr Cummings and his wife were both ill when they travelled to stay in the north of the country and say they did so in case they needed help caring for their four-year-old son.

He has come under sustained pressure from all sides of the political spectrum to stand down since the news broke on Friday night.

Since then further allegations have been made that he took a second trip to Durham during lockdown and was also spotted 30 miles away from the property where his family were staying during his period of isolation.

Both Mr Cummings and the Prime Minister dismissed those reportes.

Two Kent MPs have joined calls for him to quit, with critics saying he breached the 'Stay At Home' message he was integral in developing.

The rules dictate that you should stay at your primary residence if you have symptoms of Covid-19 but at this evening's press conference Mr Johnson said Mr Cummings followed the "instincts of every father and parent".

"Due to the actions taken by Mr Cummings, I think people will now take more chances..."

He added he "did not mark him down" and said he's behaved with "integrity".

Yesterday Mr Cummings said he behaved "reasonably and legally" and added "who cares about looking good? It's about doing the right thing."

Mr Johnson told the nation: “I have had extensive face-to-face conversations with Dominic Cummings and I have concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare, at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus – and when he had no alternative – I think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent.

“And I do not mark him down for that.

“Though there have been many other allegations about what happened when he was in self-isolation and thereafter, some of them palpably false, I believe that in every respect he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity and with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives.”

Kent MPs are yet to respond to the PM's stance for the most part, although Labour's Canterbury representative Rosie Duffield did retweet a short-lived UK Civil Service tweet which read: "Arrogant and offensive. Can you imagine having to work with these truth twisters?"

North Thanet's Sir Roger Gale later said: "I am disappointed by the PMs response, this is a bad decision for the country & the administration. Due to the actions taken by Mr Cummings, I think people will now take more chances. The last thing we want is to see a resurgence in the disease."

The message was up for a matter of minutes but was liked 34,000 times and retweeted 23,000 times before it was deleted. It is thought to have been posted by disgruntled member of staff.

Mr Johnson went on to announce primary school reception, year 1 and year 6 age groups will return as planned on June 1 and secondary schools will begin to take pupils back from June 15.

He did accept some schools will not be in a position to reopen in a week's time.

He added: "We are beating this thing," but stressed lockdown rules must continue to be followed.

To date 36,793 people have died in all settings with Covid-19, with 118 more deaths registered yesterday.

There have been 259,995 confirmed cases so far but the number of positive tests is dropping despite more being carried out.

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