ROYAL Wootton Bassett has seen more deaths linked to coronavirus than anywhere else in Wiltshire, new figures reveal.

And the Office for National Statistics says Wroughton, Wichelstowe and Chiseldon are Swindon's hotspots when it comes to Covid-19 fatalities.

Between March and May, 22 people in the Royal Wootton Bassett area died with the virus, which is more than in any of Wiltshire’s 61 other areas.

Meanwhile, 26 people in the area encompassing Wroughton, Wichelstowe and Chiseldon died with the disease during these months – more than in any of the other 26 areas in Swindon.

The information comes from new ONS data which shows the number of deaths involving Covid-19 split by smaller sections within local authorities.

The ONS data includes deaths for which coronavirus was the underlying cause, or was mentioned on the death certificate as a contributory factor.

In May, 48 deaths in Swindon were linked to Covid-19, including those registered up to June 6 – equivalent to 25.5 deaths per each 100,000 people living there.

This means that Swindon’s death rate ranked second-highest of 27 lower-tier council areas with available data in the south west.

But this updated death rate was much smaller than it was in April, when it stood at 58.3.

In Wiltshire as a whole, 118 deaths were linked to coronavirus during the May, including those registered up to June 6 – equivalent to 20.7 deaths per 100,000 of the population.

The county’s death rate ranked fourth of 27 lower-tier council areas with available data in the region and again represented a significant fall from the previous month, when it stood at 34.2.

Both of these drops reflected the trend across England as a whole, where the average death rate more than halved over the two months, to 20.0 deaths in 100,000 people.

A government spokeswoman said: “Every death from this disease is a tragedy, but thanks to our health and care workers and the huge efforts of the British people, rates of Covid-19 infections are decreasing over time.

“The government is working to understand the key drivers of disparities in infection and death rates, and the relationships between the different risk factors.

“We are taking forward the work of Public Health England’s recent disparity review, which will help us make a real difference to people’s lives and protect our communities from the impact of the coronavirus.”