West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris, reacting to announcement that Plan B restrictions including wearing of facemasks will expire next week, said: "I’m grateful to people across the West of England, who have continued to abide by Covid regulations and to help keep each other safe.

"Today’s announcement feels like a hasty decision; it’s meant to be about public safety, not the safety of the Prime Minister.

"Nonetheless I’m encouraging people to continue to wear facemasks on public transport.

“We’ve done the hard miles, we must not lose progress on yards at the end.”