A TOP public health expert has urged Boris Johnson to reconsider his plans to lift coronavirus restrictions in England as she criticised his government’s handling of the pandemic.

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, warned June 21 is "too early" to ease rules south of the Border.

That date has been earmarked by Tory ministers as the end of lockdown in England, when all remaining restrictions will be lifted.

But Bauld pointed to a rise in the seven-day average of cases across the UK. She explained: “I know that’s not translating yet to large numbers of people in hospital, but there are more people in hospital, particularly those in mid-life who may only have had one dose of the vaccine.”

She told Sky News the planned date is "very ambitious", adding: "The 21st of June is very soon and I think to avoid more preventable deaths ... we really need to be cautious at the current time.

"I really think that it is too early to be charging ahead. I would like to see several more weeks' data."

The public health expert went on to criticse the Tory government for failing to listen to health experts during the crisis.

She said: “It’s clear at several points in the pandemic that the Government didn’t follow the advice of Sage, including the behavioural science advice, that’s very clear. But looking back to the autumn, recommendations around taking early action in September, those were not taken.

“So I don’t think the Government has always followed the science. I think it’s completely incorrect to say that’s the case. In some aspects they have and some aspects they haven’t.”

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Bauld also said lessons need to be learned now from Dominic Cummings' evidence to MPs on the UK Government's response to the pandemic.

She explained: "A lot of things he said about decisions that were taken that could have prevented such a big second wave, things we should have learned around travel, around ventilation, around moving cautiously, protecting particular groups – we're still not necessarily being that cautious and using that evidence.

"So I think some of what he said we really do need to learn from, not in a future public inquiry next year, but learn from now."

She also questioned the Prime Minister's former chief adviser's criticism of behavioural scientists – including on the Independent Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) – where he claimed there were warnings of behavioural fatigue in compliance with lockdown measures.

Bauld said: "That didn't come from my colleagues on SPI-B."