Travellers returning to England from France will still have to quarantine from Monday

Holidaymakers returning to England from France will still have to self-isolate when they get back even if they are fully vaccinated, the Government has announced.

From Monday, UK residents arriving from countries on the Government's amber list will no longer have to quarantine at home for 10 days if they have had both jabs.

However, ministers have now said this will not apply to France because of the "persistent presence" in the country of the Beta variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa.

The announcement means anyone who has been in France in the last 10 days will need to self-isolate as well as taking a test after two and eight days, regardless of their vaccination status.

This includes fully vaccinated individuals who transit through France from either a green or another amber country, although operators may make specific arrangements in line with public health regulations for transit without quarantine, such as those travelling by train from Belgium.

Existing amber list exemptions for key workers such as hauliers will remain in place.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "Whilst we are committed to continuing to open up international travel safely, our absolute priority is to protect public health here in the UK."

Heath Secretary Sajid Javid added: "We have always been clear that we will not hesitate to take rapid action at our borders to stop the spread of Covid-19 and protect the gains made by our successful vaccination programme."

Commenting on the announcement that plans Henry Smith MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Future of Aviation, said: "This announcement is a real setback to international travel.

"We all expected that the traffic light system would provide much-needed certainty yet our current approach has only delivered confusion which continues to prevent any meaningful recovery for our aviation, travel and tourism sectors.

"Yet again, a last-minute announcement raises significant questions about whether the traffic light system is fit for purpose in its current form and pushes the UK further behind Europe despite our world-leading vaccination programme.

"We cannot afford to continue with this on-again, off-again approach to international travel, which is leaving consumer confidence in tatters, pushing businesses to the brink and will lead to further job losses."

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.