Chief medical officer for England Professor Sir Chris Whitty has admitted the first Covid lockdown came “too late” during evidence given to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Professor Whitty’s evidence came a day after former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance delivered his scathing verdict on a “lack of leadership” in government during the pandemic.

When questioned over differences with Sir Patrick over when the first lockdown should have begun, Professor Whitty said he was concerned over the impacts of ending schooling on areas of deprivation and of the impact on the mental health of those living alone.

“So I was very aware that we essentially had two different things we were trying to balance, the risk of going too early, in which case you get all the damages from this with actually fairly minimal impact on the epidemic, and the risk of going too late, in which case you get all the problems of the pandemic running away,” Professor Whitty said.

The chief medical officer then conceded that with the “benefit of hindsight” the first lockdown was imposed “too late”.

When asked if then Prime Minister Boris Johnson had difficulties in reaching “clear, consistent positions” during the pandemic, Professor Whitty said: “I think that the way that Mr Johnson took decisions was unique to him.”

When questioned further, Professor Whitty said Mr Johnson had a “quite distinct style”, adding he did not want to “make commentaries on individual politicians”.