Children at a Bebington primary school have been told to self-isolate after one pupil tested positive for COVID-19, it is understood.

An entire Year 1 class at Town Lane Infant School must now stop attending school and self-isolate.

A message sent to parents, which has been seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said: "Apologies for the short notice, we have had a report of a positive lateral flow test in Class 1J.

"All children from 1J will need to isolate at home until we have confirmation.

"We will be in touch as soon as possible with an update. Many thanks."

Wirral Council was approached for comment.

Unless the test result turns out to be a false positive, pupils in the class will have to isolate for 10 days in line with government guidance.

The news comes less than a week after it was announced by Julie Webster, Wirral Council's director of public health, that just over 3,300 pupils in the borough were self-isolating.

In a meeting last Wednesday, Ms Webster also said that around 250 school staff were self-isolating.

She noted that while these were big numbers, most children in the borough were still going to school, with around 6% of pupils and around 5% of school staff self-isolating.

The huge disruption this level of self-isolation is causing has been a major topic of discussion in recent weeks.

Speaking today, newly appointed Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that anyone aged under 18 who is a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case will no longer have to self-isolate.

This will come into effect from August 16 – ahead of the new school year in September – and young people will be given advice about whether they should get tested depending on their age.

The key change in the rules will mean children only have to isolate for 10 days if they test positive for coronavirus themselves.

People who have received two vaccines will also no longer have to self-isolate from August 16 if they are exposed to a positive case of COVID-19.