All of Derbyshire to move into tier 2 restrictions

All of Derbyshire will be in tier two from Saturday

The whole of Derbyshire will be placed into the second tier of restrictions to battle rising coronavirus rates.

Chesterfield, Erewash and North East Derbyshire were already in the tier two, high risk category, but Derby and the rest of the county will also be put in that level from 00:01 on Saturday.

The government also confirmed Charnwood in Leicestershire will now move into tier two.

All of Nottinghamshire enters tier three, very high risk, on Friday.

• Covid-19: Millions more residents in England move to tier 2

Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield - which was put into tier two earlier this month - said the measures have not been effective.

"From my point of view, having been in tier two for two weeks, I think the measures themselves will be very costly for the hospitality trade but probably won't be enough to get us anywhere from a health perspective.

"We have been in tier two for almost two weeks and we've seen the continued escalation of cases.

"There's not much of a sign that tier two is working."

Mr Perkins also criticised the Department of Health and Social Care for holding a virtual meeting about restrictions in Derbyshire using a "free Zoom account".

The Labour representative tweeted that discussions between the county's MPs and health minister Nadine Dorries "ended abruptly" after 45 minutes, and described it as "amateur hour".

Ms Dorries denied his claims but said the connection had been lost.

Dave Freeborough from The Tap in Derby said he fears Derbyshire will end up under the same restrictions as Nottinghamshire

Dave Freeborough, of The Tap pub in Derby, said he had been expecting extra restrictions.

"Eventually we are going to be like Nottinghamshire - we just have to grin and bear it," he said.

"It's just all up in the air at the moment.

"I want clarity, to know what I'm dealing with and when the next step will be.

"I think I speak for everyone in the hospitality industry [when I say] we're worried about where the next pay check will come from."

'Up in the air'

In Charnwood, borough council leader Jonathan Morgan said people should start following the guidelines from today rather than waiting until the weekend.

"The rising number of cases in Charnwood means further restrictions are unavoidable, and therefore it is imperative that we all act now to protect lives and livelihoods.

"There has been a significant number of cases related to the university in Loughborough, but this is a problem across the borough and there is a particular concern about the number of cases in the over 60s, which is above the national average.

"If you are in this age category, please take extra care."