Actor Laurence Fox has bragged about breaking lockdown rules and taken a swipe at  the NHS.

The controversial 42-year-old boasted on social media about hosting a lunch party and suggested if his actions meant the healthcare system couldn’t cope then it ‘isn’t fit for purpose’.

He said: "Just had a large group over to lunch and we hugged and ate and talked and put the world to rights. It was lovely.

“You’ll never take that away from people. Stay out. Protect your rights. If the @nhs can’t cope, then the @nhs isn’t fit for purpose. Compliance is violence.”

But his outburst has, predictably, angered many, including Good Morning Britain presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan who advised Fox ‘to shut up’.

One Twitter user said: "Two days ago I had a message from an ICU nurse who was suicidal from the year she has had. Don't dress your selfishness and empathy failure as a social cause.

"Or just be a d**k without the attention-seeking."

And another added: "Would love you to say this in person to me and my NHS colleagues. Tell us we are not ‘fit for purpose’. We are the NHS.  

"Tell us you don’t care we are having to work harder now than ever before. Say this to those of us who have lost colleagues - we have all lost colleagues."