MANCHESTER mayor Andy Burnham has hit out at First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over Scotland's travel restrictions on Manchester.

The move banning travel to Manchester and Salford will come into force on Monday.

Sturgeon announced the restrictions due to rising Covid-19 cases in the cities, and with the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 on the rise in north-west England and the West Midlands.

North-west England had the highest proportion of people of any region in England likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week to June 12, at around one in 180.

Burnham has now responded to the move, accusing the Scottish Government of "double standards".

He wrote: "This seems unnecessary to me … and it would have been nice if Nicola Sturgeon had contacted us beforehand to discuss it. Maybe the Scottish Government should try living by the same standards it frequently accuses the UK Government of lacking? #DoubleStandards

"And will they be providing any compensation for Greater Manchester residents whose trips are now being cancelled or businesses here losing bookings?"

The First Minister confirmed the travel restrictions at a coronavirus briefing earlier this week.

Sturgeon said: “I regret that we are introducing restrictions on travel between Scotland and two cities in England.

“Manchester and Salford currently have high levels of Covid and so from Monday onwards non-essential travel between Scotland and those cities is not permitted. Non-essential travel is already prohibited between Scotland and Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen.

“Anyone travelling elsewhere in the Greater Manchester or Lancashire area, I’d ask you to think carefully about whether your journey is really necessary because we do see cases rising across that region.”

Acknowledging that the move would be disappointing for those planning visits, she added that the Covid-19 rates were "particularly high".

She said: “These restrictions are intended to minimise the risk of either exacerbating the situation there or indeed allowing more virus to come back here to Scotland.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.