Bracknell Forest Council leader Paul Bettison writes to News readers:

I hope that residents were able to have an enjoyable bank holiday weekend as time has flown into May.

Last week we saw those aged 40 and over be invited to book an appointment for their COVID-19 vaccine. This is fantastic news, and if you are over 40 and have not yet booked your appointment, please do so to keep the roll out of the vaccine programme on schedule. For more information on the COVID-19 vaccine visit the NHS website.

Please remember that although restrictions are easing, we must remain vigilant to keep the number of cases of COVID-19 low. Currently we should only be meeting up with people from outside our own household outdoors, and only meet outdoors in groups of six or two households. If we stick to six and stay outdoors, we can all do our bit to help stop the spread.

To help identify asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, the government has started carrying out compliance checks on individuals who have a legal duty to self-isolate for 10 days following international travel.

Following reports of scammers claiming to work for the NHS Test and Trace service, it is important to know that if you are visited by legitimate staff members of the NHS Test and Trace service, they will identify themselves verbally and present an ID card with information including their name, role and employer.

They will never enter your home, ask for money, ask for your financial details or any personal information, such as your National Insurance number, telephone number or any other identifying information.

Find out more about self-compliance checks after international travel on GOV.UK.

Stay safe and have a good week.