SENIOR Conservatives in Wirral have refused to back Boris Johnson's chief aide in a row over his cross-country trip to Durham during lockdown.

Dominic Cummings - the Prime Minister's top adviser - has been criticised and urged to resign by around 20 Tory backbenchers for making the long trip from London to self-isolate in a cottage on his father's land in Durham in March.

Mr Cummings suspected that he had coronavirus, and his wife was ill with symptoms of the virus, when he made the trip with her and the couple's four-year-old son on March 27, four days after the lockdown had been imposed.

In an unprecedented public address at Downing Street yesterday, Mr Cummings said he needed to be closer to his extended family so that they could deliver food supplies and other necessities.

The Conservatives are the second largest party on Wirral Council, representing many communities including Heswall, West Kirby and Hoylake and Meols.

But senior figures in the group, including leader Cllr Ian Lewis, refused to back Mr Cummings or make any comment about the furore surrounding his alleged flouting of the rules.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked five separate local Tory councillors for a response but none would come forward to back the under-fire adviser.

Towards the end of his stay in Durham, Mr Cummings was spotted at Barnards Castle, Durham, which is around 30-40 minutes drive from where he was staying.

He has attracted ridicule for his explanation that he made this journey to test his eyesight before driving back to London – not least because he had his four-year-old child in the car with him.

Earlier today, Junior Minister Douglas Ross MP has resigned over the actions of Mr Cummings.

In a statement, the former under secretary of state for Scotland, said: "While the intentions may have been well meaning, the reaction to this news shows that Mr Cummings interpretation of the government advice was not shared by the vast majority of people who have done as the government asked.

"I have constituents who didn’t get to say goodbye to loved ones; families who could not mourn together; people who didn’t visit sick relatives because they followed the guidance of the government.

"I cannot in good faith tell them they were all wrong and one senior adviser to the government was right."