Boris Johnson is under pressure from scores of Conservative MPs to detail a “road-map out of lockdown” as more people in England come under the toughest coronavirus restrictions.
The Prime Minister has been warned by a group of 50 Tory backbenchers representing northern constituencies that the pandemic is threatening his election pledge to “level-up” the country.
More than eight million people in England – predominantly in the North – will be under the most stringent Covid-19 restrictions by the end of the week, with Warrington the latest area to be placed in Tier 3.
The measures – which came into force in the early hours of Tuesday – mean pubs and bars in the Cheshire town must close unless they serve substantial meals.
Households are also banned from mixing indoors or in private gardens and beer gardens, while betting shops, adult gaming centres, casinos and soft play centres have been shut.
Nottingham and the boroughs of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe will move into Tier 3 on Thursday, with details expected to be set out later on Tuesday.
The two areas will join the Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Yorkshire in Tier 3, placing 8.2 million people in England under the toughest restrictions.
Analysis by the PA news agency shows the rate of coronavirus cases in Nottingham fell from 726.6 in the seven days to October 15 to 464.4 in the week to October 22, with 1,546 new cases.
The city had the highest Covid-19 rate in the country in the seven days to October 15, but was 22nd on a list of local authority areas by rate of new cases in the seven days to October 22.
In Warrington, however, cases rose from 343.3 to 395.2 per 100,000 people over the same period, with 830 new cases.
The North-South divide in the tier system has sparked concern among Tory MPs, with the newly-formed Northern Research Group writing to the Prime Minister to express their fears.
