A police investigation has reportedly found that the Prime Minister's top advisor Dominic Cummings may well have breached lockdown rules.
The Telegraph is reporting that Durham Police have concluded that Mr Cummings broke the rules when he made a 50-mile journey to Barnard Castle while he was apparently isolating with coronavoris symptoms in Durham.
Boris Johnson's most senior aide claimed he made the trip on Easter Sunday, with his wife and young son in tow, because he wanted to test his eyesight to see if he was fit to drive after suffering with coronavirus sympotms.
The Barnard Castle element of Mr Cummings' story has been heavily questioned since he revealed it in an unprecedented Downing Street press conference on Monday.
The Telegraph has learned that an investigation by Durham Police has concluded that the former Vote Leave campaign boss may well have commited a 'minor breach' of the lockdown guidelines that his own government brought in.
Crime correspondent Martin Evans has reported that as it was a 'minor breach' the police decided to take no further action.
A statement from Durham Police said: "The statement said: “Durham constabulary have examined the circumstances surrounding the journey to Barnard Castle (including ANPR [automatic number plate recognition], witness evidence and a review of Mr Cummings’s press conference on 25 May 2020) and have concluded that there might have been a minor breach of the regulations that would have warranted police intervention. Durham constabulary view this as minor because there was no apparent breach of social distancing."
Nevertheless, this latest development will bring huge pressure onto Mr Cummings and his boss, the Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson and a number of senior cabinet ministers have repeatedly backed the advisor's assertion that at all times he acted within the law.
News that this is not the case will only intensify the pressure on the PM to sack his chief aide - and is likely to urge more Conservative backbench MPs to join the growing number calling for him to go.
