WILTSHIRE will stay in Tier 2 - but Swindon will move into Tier 3 - as more Covid-19 restrictions are set to come into place across the country on Boxing Day.

The New Forest is also excepted from Tier 4, despite the rest of Hampshire going into it.

It comes as a new variant is discovered to be spreading at a "dangerous rate".

Cases have risen 56 per cent in last week, says Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

He added that Tier 3 is "not enough" to control the new variant.

More of the east and south east of England will also enter the toughest Tier 4 lockdown on Boxing Day.

This means that the existing restrictions remain in place. These include:

  • People must not socialise with anyone they do not live with or who is not in their support bubble in any indoor setting, whether at home or in a public place.
  • People must also not socialise in a group of more than six people outside, including in a garden or public space.
  • Businesses and venues can remain open in a COVID secure manner, other than those that are closed by law.
  • Pubs and bars may not provide alcohol for consumption on the premises, unless with a substantial meal, so they are operating as a restaurant. They may remain open for takeaway services.
  • Hospitality businesses selling food or drink for consumption on their premises are required to provide table service only. In premises that sell alcohol, they need to close between 11pm and 5am with some exemptions, and stop taking orders after 10pm.
  • Hospitality venues that do not serve alcohol may allow someone to order from the counter, but they must still consume their meal from a seat if eating in.
  • Education settings remain open.
  • Council services, such as leisure centres and libraries, will remain open.
  • Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on numbers of attendees - 15 people can attend wedding ceremonies and receptions, 30 people can attend funeral ceremonies, and 15 people can attend linked commemorative events.
  • Outdoor street markets will continue to sell full range of items.
  • Household Recycling Centres will remain open.
  • Places of worship remain open, but people must not attend or socialise in groups of more than six people while there, unless there's a legal exemption.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said: “From 00.01 on Boxing Day Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, those parts of Essex not yet in Tier 4, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire including Portsmouth and Southampton but with the exception of the New Forest will all be escalated to Tier 4.”

Mr Hancock added that "the old tiering system is not enough to control the new strain of the virus".

He said: “We know that the three-tiered system worked to control the old variant and is working now in large parts of the country especially in northern England.

“But we also know that Tier 3 is not enough to control the new variant. This is not our hypothesis, it is a fact and we have seen it on the ground.

“We’ve seen case rates rise in some of the places close to where the current Tier 4 restrictions are in places like East Anglia where we are seeing a significant number of the new variant and we’ve seen case rates rise sharply.

“It is therefore necessary to put more of the East and South East of England into Tier 4.

“We’re also taking action in parts of the South West where there are some early signs of the new variant and where cases are rising.”

The UK's R number or reproduction number - is now estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.3.

That's a slight rise from last week when it was estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.2.

R is the number of people that one infected person will pass on a virus to, on average.

Cases will continue to grow as long as the rate is above 1.0.

Councillor Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “We have seen a significant rise in COVID-19 cases so we all have to keep playing our part and support each other as much as possible.

"From 00.01 on Saturday, 26 December our neighbouring areas will be in the following Tiers: Tier 3; Swindon, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire, Tier 4: West Berkshire

“It is therefore vital that the people of Wiltshire stay local and shop local within Wiltshire in order to protect our local population.”