CONSERVATIVES in Barrow have refused to condemn the Prime Minister's top adviser Dominic Cummings after suggestions he breached lockdown restrictions.

Mr Cummings, Boris Johnson’s chief advisor, was forced to defend himself in a Downing Street press conference on Monday after he travelled 260 miles from London to Durham in the midsts of lockdown in April.

He refused to apologise for breaking the rules on essential travel, arguing he needed to be near his extended family in the north east in case he was struck down with coronavirus and unable to look after his son.

Despite calls from across the political divide for Mr Cummings to resign, senior Conservatives in Barrow have refused to condemn him.

Councillor Alan Pemberton, honorary president of the Barrow and Furness Conservative Association, said: “Whatever Dominic Cummings movements, it has been dragging on with people asking the same questions again and again.

“As long as he has been isolating then I don’t see what the issue is but it is being made into a political issue. Whether it really affects anyone, I don’t know but we should be focusing more on moving forwards out of the pandemic and getting back to normal, that is what we should be looking at.

“We all want to look after our family and children, whether you accept that and opinions on if he acted right or wrong is up to the individual. A big question is if he didn’t do anything illegal then why is it right for him to resign or be dismissed and lose his job? Is it reasonable that he should sacrifice his job?"

Simon Fell, the Conservative MP for Barrow, said when he heard news Mr Cummings had travelled to Durham his ‘blood boiled’.

He said: “We’ve all been making sacrifices these last few weeks - some much harder than others, but all difficult. And as well-intentioned as this journey may have been, it also clearly undermines the message that the government has been putting out through this pandemic.

“And the message that people have been sticking to.

“You won’t find me defending him. But I’m not going to condemn him either.

“I’ve listened to Mr Cummings’ explanation.

“It’s not the judgement that I’d have made. And while my blood isn’t boiling any more, I still think that it is a huge distraction from the collective work we’ve all been doing to get through this virus and deeply unhelpful.

“Like him or loathe him, Mr Cummings is a father who wanted to look after his son. I’m sure we can all at least sympathise with that, even if we’d have acted differently.”

Mr Cummings said he and his wife, the journalist Mary Wakefield, drove to Durham to stay in a cottage on his father’s farm because of concerns about childcare for their four-year-old son if they were incapacitated by coronavirus, and also over fears about safety at their London home.

He said he did not regret his actions.

The Westminster opposition leaders of the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Green Party and Alliance Party yesterday wrote to the prime minister urging him to sack his top adviser ‘without further delay’.

Douglas Ross, a junior minister, resigned in protest over the saga.