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Downing Street is said to be drawing up legislation to enable larger supermarkets to open for more than six hours on Sunday, according to The Times. As part of the plan, it is also claimed that cafes and pubs would be given fast-track approval to serve food and drink outside, doing away with the need for the 28-day minimum statutory consultation period.

Former prime minister David Cameron was forced to drop plans to extend Sunday trading hours in 2016 after suffering a humiliating House of Commons defeat which saw 27 Tories joining forces with opposition parties.

However, the proposed measures to relax Sunday trading and planning laws could be announced as soon as restrictions end.

According to The Times, ministers will argue that the change will “limit the blight of empty properties” and “allow high streets to adapt to the post-coronavirus economy”.

Councils will be also encouraged to pedestrianise more streets and to allow more outdoor markets so that businesses can adapt to social distancing measures.

Currently, the Sunday Trading Act of 1994 allows large stores to open for no more than six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm.

A cross-party group of 40 MPs are pushing the government to scrap the Act but many still view Sunday as a traditional Christian “day of rest” where all shops should be closed or have limited opening.

Local convenience stores that are unaffected by the Sunday trading laws are also opposed to the reforms but larger supermarkets including Asda and Morrisons are understood to be keen.

The news comes amid fears over the coronavirus reproduction rate in parts of England, as new data suggested the R value is now around one in the North West.

The value which is used by the Government is currently between 0.7 and 0.9, though the figure has a two to three-week lag, meaning it does not account for the latest easing of the lockdown.

However, a separate report from Public Health England (PHE) and Cambridge University, which estimates what the value is currently, put the North West on 1.01 and the South West on 1.00.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the daily Downing Street press conference yesterday that new figures on the R confirm “there is a challenge in the North West of England to address and, to a lesser degree, in the South West of England”.

He said the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) believes the R is below one across the UK but the Government wants to “increasingly have an approach in tackling local lockdowns where we spot a flare-up”.

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Mr Hancock used the daily briefing yesterday to announce that all hospital visitors and outpatients in England will be required to wear face coverings from June 15, while all hospital staff will need to wear surgical masks.

He said the Government wanted to ensure that “even as the virus comes under control” hospitals are a place of “care and of safety”.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, PHE’s medical director, said the latest estimates show that while regional R numbers have increased, they remain below one for most of England, adding “this is to be expected as we gradually move out of lockdown”.

She continued: “It is vital that everyone continues with social distancing, practising good hand hygiene and must remain at home and order a test if they have symptoms.”

If R is one or higher, the virus will spread exponentially through the population but an R number of less than one indicates the virus is in decline.

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