Ahead of New Year's Eve, the National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales has urged members of the public to act responsibly to help ease the strain on emergency services.

John Apter said: “As tempting as it is to celebrate the New Year in the usual way, the new strain of Covid is having a major impact on hospitals with the NHS in some areas struggling to cope.

“Demand on policing is also as great as ever and my colleagues are working around the clock to protect the public from this deadly virus on top of responding to non-Covid related 999 calls.

“We would urge the public to continue to act responsibly and follow the rules. For many of us, this will mean celebrating the New Year in a different way. Making a small sacrifice will help reduce the impact on our overwhelmed emergency services and keep each other as safe as possible.”

On Monday (28 December), there were 41,385 new lab-confirmed Covid cases - the highest figure yet for a single day, placing the NHS under increasing pressure.