THE Dorset area has seen an increase of 26 new cases of coronavirus within the last 24 hours.

Government figures reveal that 26 new cases have been recorded across the county.

The Dorset Council area recorded nine new cases, taking the total to 11,730.

The BCP Council area recorded 17 new cases, taking the area's total to 25,126 since the start of the pandemic.

A total of 3,384 new cases have been recorded across England - bringing the total up to 3,797,395 since the start of the pandemic.

Across the whole of the UK, 4,040 new cases of the Covid-19 virus were recorded taking the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,341,736.