The rise of Wiltshire's coronavirus case rate has slowed thanks to the second lockdown and people sticking to the rules, according to the council.

The restrictions imposed by the four-week lockdown, which is more relaxed compared to the one in March, have been criticised by some of the most impacted businesses in Salisbury.

The manager of The Cathedral Hotel and the owner of The Swan at Stoford have both spoken out about how busy the city looks and how this second lockdown doesn't feel like one at all.

However, according to Wiltshire's director for public health, there is evidence of restrictions having an impact locally.

In a media briefing on Tuesday morning, Kate Blackburn said: "I think across Wiltshire as a whole compliance has been really good, not just during these more heightened restrictions but right away from the beginning of the pandemic."

She added: "In terms of our case rates, nationally it's been said a lot that it's too early to tell because what we're seeing now is the cases coming through just before the restrictions came into place.

"What I've been pleased to see is that our case rate, whilst it rose very quickly in October, has then slowed.

"Things can change very quickly and complacency is not an option but I think that is testament to the people and businesses in Wiltshire and how well they've been complying."

In the latest seven day period, the week to November 11, 526 cases were reported in the Wiltshire Council area, bringing the total number of infections since the pandemic began to 4,066.

Although cases are continuing to increase across all age groups, including those aged 60 and above, the increase is "more gradual" than across other areas in the South West, Ms Blackburn said.

Wiltshire's rate of new cases for that seven-day period is 105.2 per 100,000 people - lower than England's average of 271.2 and lower than the rate for the South West which stands at 190.

Ms Blackburn also provided an update on the situation in schools.

As it stands, 44 unique educational settings have had positive cases reported, meaning 2,895 children are currently self-isolating across Wiltshire.

Despite the number of students out of school being high, Ms Blackburn says transmission within schools is "minimal".

From tomorrow (November 18), Wiltshire will launch its own Test and Trace service to support the national system and improve the percentage of those reached by contact tracers.

Local public health workers will be contacting positive cases that the national Test and Trace system was unable to reach to ask them to self-isolate.