A major north-south divide has emerged in England's coronavirus hotspots.
Eight out of the 10 worst hit areas are in northern towns and cities, according to data from the Covid Symptom Study app.
The tracker application has 3.5 million users who update it with symptoms and their Covid-19 test results.
The latest statistics are based on 13,451 swab tests completed between July 5 and July 18 as well as symptom data from users.
Of the top ten coronavirus hotspots, eight are in northern England, while one is in north Wales.
Data from the app reportedly shows that 0.40% of the population of Blackpool and Darwen have symptoms of Covid-19.
The figure is 0.24% in Wrexham, 0.21% in Rotherham, 0.20% in Kirklees, 0.19% in Blackpool and 0.18% in Bolton, Salford, Neath Port Talbot and Sandwell, the Sun reports.
Sandwell is the only place on the list, apart from Wrexham, not in the north of England.
Experts at King's College London, which was involved in designing the app, said the number of cases in the south has plateaued, while they have increased in the north.
The application suggests that 28,048 people have symptoms of coronavirus in the UK, with the north of England suffering the highest rates.
Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, told the Telegraph: "We are now starting to see the figures in the North creep up week on week.
"The numbers are still very small so we can't say with 100 per cent certainty that Covid is increasing significantly but it does make us focus on those areas.
"To understand if these increases are significant or not, we need as many people as possible in these areas to be logging in the app."
