Cyprus will open its borders to vaccinated Britons from the start of May local authorities have said.

However, UK government travel restrictions will still be in force, with prime minister Boris Johnson saying travel will not be permitted until May 17th at the earliest.

The Cypriot government said those who had both Covid-19 jabs could travel there without restrictions from May 1st.

Cyprus deputy tourism minister, Savvas Perdios, said the country would allow Britons who had been given vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) the right to enter without the need for a negative test or to quarantine.

Tourists would be required to have had their second dose at least seven days before travelling, the minister explained.

Currently the Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna jabs have been approved for use by the EMA.

British tourists make up the largest group of visitors to the island, and made more than a million trips to Cyprus in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Cyprus has already struck a similar agreement allowing Israeli tourists to enter the country from April 1st.