Fears are growing that France will be added to the UK's quarantine travel list within days.

Ministers are believed to be planning new measures for a swathe of countries that also includes Switzerland, Poland and the Netherlands amid a surge in European coronavirus cases.

They could join Spain and its islands on the list of countries where returnees will face 14 days of self-isolation, possibly putting their jobs at risk.

It came as Boris Johnson warned that ministers will "not hesitate" to impose a quarantine system for travellers from other countries to the UK if needed.

News Shopper: People returning from France may soon have to isolatePeople returning from France may soon have to isolate

Speaking on a visit to a school in Upminster, Essex, he said: "I don't want to advise people about their individual holidays, individual decisions, they should look at the travel advice from the Foreign Office clearly.

"But what I will say, and I hope people would expect us to do this, in the context of a global pandemic, we've got to keep looking at the data in all the countries to which British people want to travel.

"Where it is necessary to impose restrictions or to impose a quarantine system, we will not hesitate to do so.

"It's been a huge effort for the entire population of this country to get the disease down to the levels that we are currently seeing, but we do not want reinfection and that's why we've got to keep a very, very close eye on the data in destinations around the world."

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Spain has already been hit with new travel restrictions, while there are fears that France, Germany or Holland could be put back on the UK's quarantine list after spikes in cases there.

France has announced up 10,002 new cases in the last week, the highest number since April and a sharp increase from 7,391 the week before.

The government's Covid-19 scientific council warned last week that France could "at any moment" lose control over the spread of the disease.

Asked if France could be added to the quarantine list, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We keep the data for all countries and territories under constant review.

"Any decisions to update the exemptions list will be informed by the latest health data and we can and will act rapidly. We have been updating the exemptions list on a weekly basis in order to make sure that it reflects the changes in the international health picture."

He added: "If there is a need to act very rapidly in order to protect public health, then we wouldn't hesitate to do so."