CHESHIRE West and Chester has been moved up into Tier 3 of the Government's coronavirus restrictions, it has been confirmed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement during a Downing Street press conference this afternoon.

The change will come into force on Boxing Day.

The borough has been in Tier 2 measures since the second national lockdown ended and the next review was due on December 30.

However, due to the rate of infection increasing in several parts of the country further action has been taken to try and curb the rising case numbers.

According to Government data, the weekly infection rate during the seven-day period up to December 17 stands at more than 204.9 per 100,000 people, having stabilised at just over 100 following the recent lockdown.

This rise has resulted in Cheshire West and Chester being put into Tier 3 – Very High Alert from Boxing Day.

This means hospitality venues must close and only operate takeaway services.

Chester Zoo must close all indoor attractions while Chester FC will not be able to have any supporters inside the stadium.

Cheshire East and Warrington will also be placed into Tier 3.

Responding to the news, Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Louise Gittins said: “This is disappointing news for our borough but our communities remain committed to doing all we can to overcome the virus. 

“We would like to pay tribute to the ongoing hard work of our local health and other public services and the work that is taking place right across our communities to keep everyone safe at this difficult time. 

“The move into Tier 3 will clearly hit the leisure and hospitality sectors in our borough hard.

"We will continue to do all we can to support our local businesses and we will continue to urge the Government to provide financial support to these businesses and their staff. 

“The infection rate in Cheshire West and Chester is too high and we urge everyone to continue to wash hands, wear face coverings and keep their space between others to bring us back down to tier two.

"Together we can reduce the rate and reduce the restrictions and we will continue our work with our local NHS to roll out the vaccine.”

What are the Tier 3 restrictions?

  • You must not meet socially indoors or in a private garden with anybody you do not live with or have a support bubble with.
  • You can see friends and family you do not live with (or do not have a support bubble with) in some outdoor public places in a group of up to 6. This limit of 6 includes children of any age. Outdoor public places include parks, beaches, forests, allotments, outdoor sports courts and facilities, playgrounds.
  • Hospitality settings, such as bars (including shisha bars), pubs, cafes, restaurants, and social clubs must close except for takeaway, delivery and click and collect services. This includes restaurants and bars within hotels or member’s clubs.
  • Accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs, campsites, holiday lets and guest houses must close.
  • Indoor play centres, including soft play venues and trampolining parks, casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys, indoor skating rinks, amusement arcades, cinemas, theatres concert halls, snooker and pool halls are among the entertainment and tourist venues that must close.
  • A number of outdoor entertainment venues must close their indoor attractions. These include zoos, safari parks and aquariums, other animal attractions including farms, water parks and aqua parks, museums, galleries and sculpture parks, botanical or other gardens, theme parks, fairgrounds and funfairs, and adventure playgrounds and parks.
  • Where possible, you should stay local and avoid travelling outside your local area, meaning your village or town, or part of a city. People should continue to travel for reasons such as work, education, medical attention or if they have caring responsibilities.

For full details on Tier 3 measures visit www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-3-very-high-alert