Fifth of Britons now following lockdown rules less strictly - with Dominic Cummings blamed

A fifth of Britons are following the lockdown rules less strictly than before - with a third of those citing Dominic Cummings' actions as a factor, new polling suggests.

The poll by YouGov suggests the majority of the public - some 73% - are still following lockdown rules strictly.

But of the 21% who said they followed the rules less strictly, 32% mentioned prime minister Boris Johnson's senior adviser as one of the reasons for their breaches.

Johnson has stood by his aide, who travelled from London to Durham during the lockdown because of concerns over who would look after his son if both he and his wife were incapacitated by coronavirus.

The survey found that younger Britons were the most likely to have adhered less strictly to the rules than in the previous week.

Some 29% of those aged 18 to 24 and 25% of those aged 25 to 49 said their adherence to the rules had declined.

The survey also found 76% felt the coronavirus situation was getting better, up from 58% two weeks ago.

More than a third - 36% - said restrictions should be more severe, but this is down from 42% two weeks ago, while the proportion of those thinking the lockdown measures were about right increased from 42% to 47%.