A former Government advisor who grew up in the Llanidloes area has told MPs that the number of deaths could have been halved if lockdown measures were introduced a week earlier.

Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, said he believed introducing lockdown measures could have reduced the coronavirus deaths by half.

He told the has told the Science and Technology Committee: "The epidemic was doubling every three to four days before lockdown interventions were introduced.

"So, had we introduced lockdown measures a week earlier, we would have reduced the final death toll by at least a half."

However, he added that based on what was known about transmission and fatalities at the time, the measures were warranted.

Professor Ferguson added: "A key concept of getting R below one is that of a contact budget.

"If we want to maintain control of transmission, then there's only a certain number of contacts which can be permitted and then it is a policymakers' decision, if they want to keep R below one, of which types of contact to prioritise."

Professor Ferguson, who went to school in Llanidloes and whose work was crucial in Boris Johnson's move to enforce strict conditions, resigned as a key Government adviser in the coronavirus response in May.

He stood down from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) after allowing a woman to visit him at his London home.