Covid-19 cases have leapt by 263 per cent in the last seven days across Lambeth, forcing thousands of residents to spend Christmas in isolation.

Separately, official figures show that vaccination rates in the borough are well below the national average, putting the local population at particular risk.

There were some 1,358 confirmed cases in Lambeth on December 19 alone with the highly infectious Omicron variant having fast become the dominant strain across London.

In the past seven days to December 19, 8,577 people tested positive – a rise of 263 per cent on the previous seven days.

It is a similarly bleak picture in the borough of Wandsworth, where Covid-19 cases have leapt 253 per cent in the last seven days.

The steep increases arrive against a background of vaccination rates across both Lambeth and Wandsworth that remain well below the national average.

In total 47 million people in the UK have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, equivalent to 82 per cent of the population.

Across Wandsworth, 63 per cent of residents have received two doses; in Lambeth, only 59% of people have received both jabs.

Earlier this month it was confirmed that more than 90 per cent of Covid patients requiring the most specialist care have not been vaccinated.

A corresponding increase in hospital admissions now threatens to further delay seriously ill patients from life-saving stages of intervention – on 14 December, Guy's and St Thomas' hospital reported 28 coronavirus patients were requiring mechanical ventilators to breathe.

Cllr Jim Dickson, Lambeth's Cabinet member for Health & Social Care, said the record infection rates in Lambeth were "incredibly high and extremely worrying."

"We are asking people to act now to keep Lambeth safe and protect the vulnerable.

"We don't yet know the severity of this variant of concern, but the risk is that if people don't come forward now for their jabs, the infections will start reaching older and more vulnerable people which is very likely to make them sick and raise their risk of dying."

He added: "Testing is still one of the best ways to stop the spread – and we have free lateral flow tests available that we can all use before meeting others. If you feel unwell, please take a PCR test immediately. These measures will help toward stopping the spread.

"The news about this variant is not something any of us wanted to hear and as further information emerges, we will learn more about the variant.

"However in the meantime by continuing to work together, we can protect the most vulnerable in our communities and each other, to limit the impact of the virus on our lives."