Downing Street has rejected calls to immediately review the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants in England.

It comes after shocking video footage emerged of York city centre packed with singing, chanting crowds of revellers on Saturday night after the pubs closed at 10pm.

Senior York councillor Andrew Waller said at the weekend that such scenes "put us all at greater risk and give the virus the chance to easily spread".

But asked today if the restriction would be reconsidered, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No. I would obviously say we keep all of our social distancing measures under review but no there’s nothing in that regard.”

The spokesman said there are existing rules around how off-licences serve the public during the pandemic when asked about concerns of them being busy after the curfew time.

And he suggested changing the time to allow more flexibility for a staggering of exit times from pubs was not being considered.

He said: “I’m not aware of anything specific in that regard. The decision to reduce time to 10pm was based on the fact it had been in operation in the local lockdown areas and had been considered to strike the right balance.”

The spokesman said there was a “particular media focus around Liverpool” with regards to crowded streets when pubs called time at the deadline on Saturday.

He pointed towards a statement from Merseyside Police Superintendent Chris Gibson who said images of a “spontaneous gathering around a local street performer” did not “reflect the overall behaviour of people in Liverpool this weekend”.

Footage taken in York - and shared by thousands of people on Facebook - showed crowds milling around in Church Street, singing, booing and chanting as a police van arrived on the scene.

North Yorkshire Police said that when dealing with the public, its officers adopted the 'four E’s' approach; engage, explain, encourage and as a last resort will use enforcement.

“In this case, officers attended the scene and encouraged the group to disperse. No arrests were made and the group was dispersed by 10.27pm," said a spokesperson at the weekend.