Government will only relax Covid lockdown measures when it is ‘safe’ to do

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said this although he recognised a "natural desire to go further and to go faster" with the roadmap.

Speaking to Sky News on Monday on the international travel traffic light system, he said: "I get that a lot of people over the course of the last year or so have missed travelling, they have missed seeing family and loved ones - I totally, totally get that.

"I understand the desire to move forward as quickly as possible but we have always said we will do this at a pace that is safe, that gives the scientists enough time to properly analyse the data after each set of restrictions are lifted.

"I know there will be a natural desire to go further and to go faster but the priority of the Government has always been to make these changes at a pace that is safe to do so."

He said the Government wanted the roadmap to be a "one-way system" but that science would continue to be the "guiding force".

"We've always said that we want to get this move back to normality, we want it to be a one-way system," he told Times Radio.

"We want things to improve so we're going to take things cautiously, we're going to make sure the decisions are driven by science and we will unlock in a way that is safe.

"We've already seen internationally that the coronavirus situation can change and can change quickly so it's not about going backwards," he said.

On foreign travel, he said the policy has been set and the science will be the guiding force for which countries will be on the red, amber or green lists.

Meanwhile, travel company Thomas Cook said there was "great progress" in countries such as Portugal and Spain in preparing for the return of holidaymakers.

its chief executive Alan French told BBC Radio 4: “When the holidays proper start at the end of June, we are expecting most of the countries that the UK goes on holiday to – Europe particularly – to be open.”

CRIME: Drugs found on one in two people searched by police in Sheffield city centre

CRIME: Police find knife during search of Sheffield park

WEATHER: May Bank Holiday: Hour-by-hour weather forecast in Sheffield as Met Office predicts heavy rain