ANOTHER eight people being treated in East Lancashire after testing positive for coronavirus have died, NHS England has confirmed.

That brings the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the area to 12, with some of those figures including people who have been tested post mortem.

The latest data, released today, shows that one person died on March 20, one on March 23, one on March 24, two on March 28, one on March 29, two on March 30, three on April 1 and one on April 2.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Royal Blackburn and Burnley General, has been contacted for comment.

Although no details about 10 of the deceased have been released tributes were paid in the Lancashire Telegraph to two men who both died in March after contracting the virus. They were Bill Smith, from Great Harwood, who was 81 and had underlying health conditions, and 90-year-old William Henry Laycock, known as Harry, from Accrington.

The number of people who have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK has now hit 3,605.