The British government has caused utter confusion by urging people not to travel in or out of eight areas identified as Indian variant hotspots unless their journeys are “essential”.

The guidance, updated on a government website, applies to Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.

Most have sizeable Indian or Pakistani populations.

Leicester, where Keith Vaz was the Labour MP for over 30 years, is the city where Indians settled after being expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1972. It hosts the biggest Diwali celebrations outside of India.

Hounslow in west London, where Virendra Sharma is the local Labour MP, has even larger Indian population. Many Indians work at nearby Heathrow airport.

The government has caused anger by appearing to impose “local lockdowns by stealth”. It updated advice on its website on “what you can and cannot do” but without telling local authorities in the affected areas.

Newspaper reports in the Daily Mail and other papers said that “local councils were left reeling by the change, and blasted ministers for failing to consult them and even lacking the courtesy to let them know about the new advice”.

Blackburn with Darwen’s director of public health Dominic Harrison said the affected areas “were not consulted with, warned of, notified about, or alerted to this guidance”.

The Indian mutant virus had overtaken the previously-dominant Kent variant in 44 places, up from 23 the week before.

Covid cases have surged in Bolton, which currently has the highest rolling seven-day infection rate in the country, at 450.7 cases per 100,000 residents, a 60 per cent week-on-week rise. The uptick is thought to largely be down to the India variant, known as B.1.617.2.

There was a furious reaction from Yasmin Qureshi, the Pakistani-origin Labour MP for Bolton South East and shadow international development minister, who raged she had not been informed and was “gobsmacked” by the updated guidance.

“They’re making such an important announcement and they don’t even have the decency to tell us or tell our constituents,” she said, adding that many people would have made plans to travel over the approaching Bank holiday weekend.

She said it was “not clear” whether “this is advisory or legally obligatory” and described the move as “incompetence” on the part of the government. Layla Moran, a Lib Dem MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, said this risked causing “confusion and uncertainty”.

She said: “This is a major change to policy that will have a huge impact on people’s lives. Simply updating the government website without an official announcement is a recipe for confusion and uncertainty. “Local people and public health leaders in these areas need urgent clarity from the government.”