All pubs except in Isles of Scilly to shut

According to real estate adviser Altus Group, there are just six pubs on the Isles of Scilly.

Health secretary Matt Hancock addressed the House of Commons this afternoon (Wednesday 30 December), revealing more areas will be moved into tiers three and four effective from tomorrow (Thursday 31 December), meaning everywhere in England will be under tier three or four measures apart from the Isles of Scilly, which is remaining in tier one.

This means pubs that are currently in tier two and can remain open to serve ‘substantial meals’, will now have to close.

This includes those in Rutland, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Bath, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and York (full list below).

Necessary application

Hancock said: “Sharply rising cases and the hospitalisations that follow demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading and you’ll have seen Mr Speaker that yesterday alone, 53,135 new cases were registered – the majority of which, are believed to be the new variant.

“Unfortunately, this new variant is now spreading across most of England and cases are doubling fast.

“It is therefore necessary to apply tier four level restrictions to a wider area including the remaining parts of the south east as well as large parts of the Midlands, the north west, the north east and the south west.”

The Government previously stated the tiers would be reviewed every two weeks, meaning the next look at them will be Wednesday 13 January 2021.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls called on the Government for reassurance for the trade and extensions to aid.

She said: “From tonight, nearly all of England will be in tiers three or four, with hospitality returned to the conditions at the end of March – effectively shut down.

“We have consistently pleaded for the Government to reassure hospitality businesses and allow them to plan for survival, by announcing an extension to the 5% VAT rate and to the business rates holiday and to urgently detail new support grants."

Hospitality bloodbath

Nicholls added: “Without these steps, businesses cannot plan for any future at all, meaning hundreds of thousands of job losses.

“With the vast majority of the country’s hospitality now unable to trade, we cannot deliver this message to Government loudly enough.

“The sector has suffered more than any other under Covid-19 and without urgent action, we will witness a hospitality bloodbath, losing thousands of venues for good.”

The latest areas to move into tier four ‘stay at home’ from tomorrow (Thursday 31 December) are:

• Leicester City
• Leicestershire (Oadby and Wigston, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Blaby, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Melton)
• Lincolnshire (City of Lincoln, Boston, South Kesteven, West Lindsey, North Kesteven, South Holland, East Lindsey)
• Northamptonshire (Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, Wellingborough)
• Derby and Derbyshire (Derby, Amber Valley, South Derbyshire, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield, Erewash, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak)
• Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (Gedling, Ashfield, Mansfield, Rushcliffe, Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, Broxtowe)
• Birmingham and Black Country (Dudley, Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton)
• Coventry
• Solihull
• Warwickshire (Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwick, North Warwickshire, Stratford-upon-Avon)
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (East Staffordshire, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, Lichfield, Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle under Lyme, Tamworth, Stoke-on-Trent)
• Lancashire (Burnley, Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley, Blackpool, Preston, Hyndburn, Chorley, Fylde, Lancaster, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre)
• Cheshire and Warrington (Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington)
• Cumbria (Eden, Carlisle, South Lakeland, Barrow-in-Furness, Copeland, Allerdale)
• Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)
• Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees )
• North East (County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland)
• Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Cotswolds, Tewkesbury, Stroud, Cheltenham)
• Somerset Council (Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset)
• Swindon
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
• Isle of Wight
• New Forest

The regions moving into the ‘very high’ tier three also from tomorrow (Thursday 31 December) are:

• Rutland
• Shropshire, and Telford and Wrekin
• Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Redditch, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest)
• Herefordshire
• Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens)
• York and North Yorkshire (Scarborough, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Selby, Craven, Ryedale, Harrogate, City of York)
• Bath and North East Somerset
• Devon, Plymouth, Torbay (East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, West Devon, Plymouth, Torbay)
• Cornwall
• Dorset
• Wiltshire