More areas of the country are at risk of being plunged into strict tier 3 lockdown as health experts discuss raising the alert level in some places.

Leaders said to be holding a ‘gold command’ meeting later today to discuss whether Greater Manchester and Lancashire should be reclassified and put on ‘very high’ alert.

This would put both areas into a tier 3 lockdown under the Government’s new system and force pubs and bars to close.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham tweeted: ‘Disappointing that the Government is piling the pressure on GM in this way without negotiating.

‘It risks confusing people coming so soon after the Tier 2 announcement.

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‘Our view is unchanged: unfunded restrictions are unfair and will cause real damage to lives, jobs and businesses.’

Figures up to the week ending October 5 show there are 543 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people in Manchester, and 428 per 100,000 in Burnley, Lancashire.

These regions were placed under the tier 2 lockdown on Monday, meaning their alert level is ‘high’.

But other areas in the second tier lockdown with soaring coronavirus rates include Sheffield (398 cases per 100,000), Exeter (390) and Leeds (389).

And Nottingham (689) and Newcastle (498) have similar rates to, if not higher than, areas in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, meaning they could also be at risk of being escalated to tier 3.

This means if infection rates continue to rise these areas could also qualify as ‘very high’ risk ,and thousands of pubs across the regions could be forced to shut their doors.

Under the new standardised lockdown rules, anyone living in an area now under tier two of the lockdown system will be prohibited from mixing with other households indoors.

But you are allowed to mix outside as long as the national ‘rule of six’ is observed.

Other areas in the second tier – which could also be pushed into the third tier if infection rates continue to soar – include Cheshire, Derbyshire, Durham, Leicestershire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Liverpool was placed under tier 3 on Monday, while Nottinghamshire, East and West Cheshire were put under the second tier.

It comes after leaders in Merseyside claimed suggestions they ‘kowtowed’ to the Government are not true.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: ‘This belief that we kowtowed to the government, this was forced upon us and we were weak and allowed government to do what they wished upon us – the fact of the matter is we knew, and it was leaked in The Times, that we were being put in Tier 3.

‘The Government has decided what measures are in Tier 3, not me, not any of the leaders.’

Ministers have also been coming under increasing pressure to place London under tier 2 restrictions as infection rates continue to soar across the capital.

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