Britain will introduce legal changes shortly to enforce a lockdown imposed on the English city of Leicester where there has been a flare up of the novel coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

The ancient city of Leicester in central England is the first area of the United Kingdom to face a targetted local coronavirus lockdown after the British government began easing the nationwide lockdown earlier this month.

Leicester accounted for 10 per cent of all positive cases in the country in the past week, the government said on Monday.

“In the very significant testing that we’ve brought into Leicester ... We have seen a number of positive cases in the under 18s and that’s why we took the decision with a heavy heart to close schools in Leicester,” Hancock was quoted as saying by Reuters.