IPSO has issued a rare order to Metro to flag a “serious” breach of the Editors’ Code on its front page, after it wrongly claimed deaths from illnesses other than Covid-19 had “rocketed” during lockdown.

IPSO said Metro’s splash made “eye-catching categorical claims without qualification of sufficient prominence and gave the highly misleading impression that deaths had soared”.

The regulator added: “The article was misleading on a matter of great significance during a global public health emergency.”