ALMOST 16 million people tuned in to the BBC to see the Prime Minister announce the new national lockdown on Saturday, after a rapid rise in coronavirus cases.

And, delivering the news to the nation was BBC political correspondent, Chris Mason, from Grassington.

Ex Ermysted's pupil Chris, who also hosts Radio 4's Any Questions, jointly presented the BBC News Special programme with Reeta Chakrabati, and for longer than expected after the expected news conference originally expected to start at about 5pm, eventually got away at 6.50pm - knocking off 'Little Mix The Search', which has been rescheduled to Friday.

Chris tweeted: "Crikey, I know we are no match for @LittleMix, but thank you if you were among the 14 million people who caught the BBC News Special last night — where @reetacbbc and I found ourselves in a rather more in depth conversation than we anticipated, as we awaited the Prime Minister.

"The figures peaked at around 14 million at half six, but didn’t dip below 7 million for a good few hours before that — as the wait and the waffling (from me) began."

He later tweeted: "Update — it was nearer 16 million at the peak because of an additional 1.8 million watching on the BBC News Channel. Thanks to all who trusted us to bring you the news."