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Downing Street ignored a Department of Health  warning not to announce the imminent delivery of vital safety equipment from Turkey which later turned into a farce by taking days to arrive, it was claimed today.

Senior officials reportedly warned No 10 and Communities Minister Robert Jenrick that any public confirmation of the plane-load of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff battling coronavirus could backfire.

But Jenrick was authorised to announce its imminent arrival on Saturday, a decision which sparked major embarrassment when it became clear it would not be ready in time.

It finally arrived in the UK yesterday after an RAF aircraft was sent to Istanbul and the Turkish Government stepped in to gift equipment because the firm paid to deliver it was unable to do so.   

It comes amid an apparent rift between Matt Hancock and Downing Street, with No 10 officials accused of lining up the Health Secretary as a 'fall guy' for coronavirus failures. 

A Department of Health Source told the Guardian: 'We strongly advised Robert Jenrick against doing this but he and No 10 overruled us. 

Communities Minister Robert Jenrick was authorised to announce its imminent arrival on Saturday, a decision which sparked major embarrassment when it became clear it would not be ready in time

An Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire yesterday that is believed to have carried the PPE supplied from Instanbul

It comes amid an apparent rift between Matt Hancock and Downing Street, with No 10 officials accused of lining up the Health Secretary as a 'fall guy' for coronavirus failures

'The advice we gave as a department as that we shouldn't mention individual orders of PPE. But for whatever reason it wasn't followed.' 

However a source close to Mr Hancock said that this description of events was 'wrong'. 

The first of a hoped-for three flights from Turkey landed at RAF Brize Norton in the early hours of Wednesday after collecting a shipment of equipment including 400,000 badly needed surgical gowns. 

Mr Jenrick announced with fanfare on Saturday that the consignment - enough to keep the NHS supplied for several days - was coming, before Education Secretary Gavin Williams humiliatingly admitted the following day that it had been postponed.

He voiced hopes that it would arrive on Monday but it took an additional two days to arrive. 

Fury over coronavirus PPE shortages is escalating amid claims the government was ignoring offers of help from businesses - and millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK in spite of the lack of equipment for NHS frontline staff.

Reports suggested that the Government missed out on 16million facemasks for the NHS after ignoring offers from two major firms