The UK must be “vigilant” over the threat of a second wave of Covid-19, the Prime Minister has said.

Speaking on a visit to Nottingham on Tuesday, Boris Johnson said the most important thing is for people in all communities to “heed the advice” before restrictions can be eased across the country.

Mr Johnson also said that he had sympathy with the views of local leaders who want restrictions on their areas to be lifted.

“Where you can do local easing, local easements, then of course you should but we’ll see what the review says,” he said of the lockdown measures imposed in Leicester.

“I have every sympathy with the views of the (mayor of Leicester Peter Soulsby) and local MPs, but we have to prioritise public health and apply simple common sense, and I think people also understand that.

“And we’ll do everything we can in these tough times for businesses, for families, for people whose mental health has been affected by the lockdown, to give them the support that they need.”

He added: “The most important thing is for everybody in all communities to heed the advice, to follow the advice, not to be spreading it accidentally and get it right down and we’ll be able to ease the restrictions across the country.

“But clearly we now face, I’m afraid, the threat of a second wave in other parts of Europe and we just have to be vigilant and we have to be very mindful.”

We have to look at the big picture, we have to look at the national situation and, of course, we need to look at the health of the people of Leicester as well

The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of looking at the “big picture” in easing lockdown restrictions.

He continued: “I have every sympathy for local leaders who want their area out of lockdown, I can understand their instincts.

“But we have to look at the big picture, we have to look at the national situation and, of course, we need to look at the health of the people of Leicester as well.

“They’ve been making a great effort to get the incidents down, the review is going on in the course of the next few days as you know, let’s hope we can make progress there.

“But the priority, and I think the mayor and local MPs would agree with this, the priority has got to be people’s health and getting the disease under control.

“Particularly now as we can see what’s happening amongst some of our European friends, where they’ve got it starting to bubble up again.”