Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the newly reported claims of him breaking lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic are “a load of nonsense”.

It comes after Mr Johnson was referred to the Metropolitan Police by the Cabinet Office as his ministerial diary revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic.

The entries also showed visits by Johnson’s friends to his country estate – and events in Downing Street during the pandemic, according to The Times, which broke the story.

The Cabinet Office passed their concerns to the Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police after the visits were highlighted during preparations for a public inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic.

A statement from the Met Police said: "We are in receipt of information from the Cabinet Office passed to us on 19 May 2023, which we are currently assessing. It relates to potential breaches of the Health Protection Regulations between June 2020 and May 2021 at Downing Street."

No 10 and the Cabinet Office are adamant that ministers were not involved when Whitehall officials passed concerns to the police.

Boris Johnson says newly reported claims of lockdown rule breaking are ‘a load of nonsense’

Speaking to a journalist at Sky News, he said: “You want my honest view, I think this whole thing is completely nonsensical.”

When asked what the entries show, he replied: “They merely record events in my day.

“This whole thing is a load of nonsense from beginning to end… I think it’s ridiculous that elements in my diary should be cherry-picked and handed over to the police, to the Privileges Committee without even anybody having the basic common sense to ask me what these entries referred to."

Having previously claimed he appears to be the victim of a "politically motivated plot", Mr Johnson was asked whether he believes someone is trying to "stitch him up".

He said: “I just think it’s totally nonsensical and bizarre. There are tens of thousands of entries in the prime ministerial diary… None of them constitute a breach of the rules during Covid.”

Mr Johnson suggested none of the entries in question relate to periods when the country was in lockdown, but times when other restrictions were in place.

He added: “For reasons that – somebody, somewhere, thinks it’s sensible to do this – I don’t.”

The Privileges Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into whether Mr Johnson lied to Parliament about the partygate scandal, has also been informed of the new information.

A spokesperson for Mr Johnson said: "Some abbreviated entries in Mr Johnson's official diary were queried by Cabinet Office during preparation for the COVID Inquiry.

"Following an examination of the entries, Mr Johnson's lawyers wrote to the Cabinet Office and Privileges Committee explaining that the events were lawful and were not breaches of any COVID Regulations."