Cheshire West and Chester will move into Tier 3 from Saturday, 26th December, after a government review of the borough's high infection rate showed that restrictions were needed to suppress the spread of Covid-19.

Households must not mix indoors or in most outdoor places, with an exception for support bubbles. A maximum of six people can meet in some outdoor public spaces such as parks and public gardens but not private gardens.

All hospitality and indoor entertainment venues must close, except for businesses serving takeaway, drive through and delivered food.

All retail, personal care and indoor leisure venues such as gyms and swimming can remain open. Large events, live performances, events should not take place but drive in events are allowed.

Accommodation is closed and overnight stays are not allowed but there are limited exceptions such as for work purposes or where people can't return home.

Travel out of the area should be avoided other than where necessary such as for work, education, youth services, medical attention, or caring responsibilities. Residents should reduce the number of journeys where possible.

The government's latest Christmas Bubble arrangements remain in place with families being able to see a maximum of two other households on Christmas Day. However, you cannot see anyone from a Tier 4 area.

Cheshire West and Chester's tier level has been decided by the Government, determined by the borough's current COVID-19 infection rate, and without any negotiations with local leaders.

There were 732 positive cases between December 12 and 18, a rate of 213 per 100,000 people.

Council leader councillor 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."