Coronavirus: All of Lancashire placed under tier 4 to 'control virus'

Placing the whole of Lancashire under the toughest coronavirus restrictions will help to bring infection rates down, the council has said.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said tier four "stay at home" restrictions will be imposed from midnight.

Cases have risen in 10 of the county's 14 council areas, with Burnley highest at 446.5 per 100,000 population.

Lancashire's public health director said it was "vital we get the virus under control".

"We are at a critical point in this pandemic and I would urge everyone to play their part to stop the spread," said Dr Sakthi Karunanithi. 

He added: "The restrictions in tier four will mean even more disruption to people's lives, and I know that this decision will bring hardship to many. 

"However it is vital we get the virus under control and bring down the number of people being infected and having to be admitted to hospital." 

By Mike Stevens BBC Radio Lancashire political reporter

Politicians were hoping to avoid the whole county being moved into tier four - but with rising rates of coronavirus across most of Lancashire, many have told me that this was inevitable.

Some have been pushing the government to split the county, with areas such as east Lancashire, where rates are higher, being placed in the top tier.

But ministers have always said that, because Lancashire's hospitals rely on each other for mutual aid, the whole county must have the same level of restrictions.

Regardless of the reasons behind the move, the news will come as huge blow for Lancashire's non-essential shops, gyms and hairdressers who all have to close from midnight.

The health secretary told the Houses of Commons earlier that the Midlands, North East, parts of the North West including Lancashire and parts of the South West are among new areas escalated to tier four.

Under the tougher restrictions people should stay at home unless they have a "reasonable excuse" for work or education and all non-essential shops must close.

"The new Covid variant is more infectious and it is in Lancashire," Lancashire County Council has tweeted.

"We know it's difficult news that we're going into tier four.

"We can prevent infecting others by following hands, face, space. If we keep on doing this, the sooner our rates will go down."

Conservative MP for Morecambe, David Morris, said it was "not unexpected".

He tweeted: "Our case numbers have been consistently rising and therefore there has been no other option to curb the spread of the virus and protect our NHS which is under pressure."

Hotel owner Clare Smith from Blackpool said the news had not come as a surprise but would be the "death knell" for some businesses.

"We're just waiting for the virus in the hope that we have a good season next year, but for many hotels that could be too late," said Mrs Smith, who is also president of the hoteliers group Stay Blackpool.

Blackpool Council said the Illuminations would be switched off at 22:30 following the decision and urge everyone in tier four areas to follow the "stay home" advice.

However, it added Blackpool Tower would still shine as it had done throughout the pandemic.

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