Delilah, Darcy and Arthur Hicks will be enjoying their chocolate eggs at home in Elstead, Surrey, this year, as Britain’s lockdown continues over the holiday weekend

A vaccine against coronavirus could be ready as soon as September, the British scientist leading one of the world’s most advanced efforts has said.

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, told The Times she was “80 per cent confident” that the vaccine being developed by her team would work, with human trials due to begin in the next fortnight.

The government signalled that it would be willing to fund the manufacture of millions of doses in advance if results looked promising. This would allow it to be available immediately to the public if it were proven to work.

With ministers struggling to find a strategy to exit the lockdown, long-term hopes of a return to normality rely on a vaccine.

Even if