Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire will receive extra help to boost Covid vaccinations and testing.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a "strengthened package of support" would be provided to tackle a rise in the Delta variant.

It will include military support and supervised in-school testing in the areas hardest hit.

People have also been advised to minimise travel in and out of the area and avoid meeting indoors.

Residents are also encouraged to get tested twice a week and continue to work from home if possible.

The advice has been issued for all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester as well as places within the Lancashire County Council area.

Those include Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre.

Mr Hancock said the package was based on "what's working in Bolton," the Greater Manchester town which has already been offered enhanced support.

He said: "We know that this approach can work, we've seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases.

"This is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and in Lancashire, and of course it's vital that people in these areas - as everywhere else - come forward and get the jab as soon as they're eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together."

Latest government figures showed that of the top 20 areas with the highest infection rates in England in the week leading up to 3 June, 17 were in Greater Manchester or Lancashire.

Blackburn with Darwen had the highest rate, rising to 546.4 cases per 100,000 people, while in second-placed Bolton and third-placed Rossendale, the rates dropped to 319.6 cases per 100,000 and 288.2 per 100,000 respectively over the same period.

The other areas in the top ten - Hyndburn, Burnley, Ribble Valley and South Ribble in Lancashire and the Greater Manchester boroughs of Salford, Manchester and Bury - all also saw rates rise.