Following a review of the pricing and service standards of the 422 day two and day eight testing providers on the official list, 82 have been identified as displaying lower prices than are available on their website at the point of checkout.

Gov.uk will be updated to reflect the true cost of the tests and companies will be warned this week that they will be removed if they advertise misleading prices again.

A total of 57 companies will be taken off the list on Monday (23 August) as they no longer exist or don’t provide day two and day eight testing.

Sajid Javid said "it is absolutely unacceptable" for any private testing company to be "taking advantage" of holidaymakers and today’s action "clamps down on this cowboy behaviour".

"We are also introducing regular spot checks this week to make sure all private providers follow the rules and meet our high standards of transparency," he added.

Companies will be removed from the list if they fail to take action within three days of strike one as part of the new two-strike policy.

The findings of the review will be shared with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to support their own review of the market and align recommendations and actions.

Tests booked with companies not listed can still be used for travel, providing those firms meet legal requirements.