Matt Hancock quits as UK health secretary after social distancing row

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British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has resigned after he breached social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague, according to media reports on Saturday.

In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Hancock said the government "owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down".

The 42-year-old minister reiterated his apology for "breaking the guidance" and he apologised to "my family and loved ones", the BBC reported.

His resignation comes after pictures emerged of him with Gina Coladangelo, reportedly taken on May 6.

'The Sun' newspaper showed Hancock in a tight embrace and kissing 43-year-old Coladangelo, a former lobbyist and adviser in his Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The Opposition Labour and Liberal Democrat parties on Friday demanded his removal as the extra-marital affair evidence from last month breached the coronavirus lockdown guidance of close contact only within a strict household bubble amid the rapid spread of the Delta variant in the country.