People from separate households in Greater Manchester, parts of West Yorkshire and East Lancashire are banned from meeting each other indoors from midnight tonight amid a coronavirus spike.

Matt Hancock announced the new restrictions this evening, noting that they also apply to Leicester – despite hopes that the city may be given the green light to come out of lockdown today.

The health secretary has blamed the surge in cases on different households not abiding by social distancing rules when they meet.

He said tonight the government had been forced to ‘take immediate action to keep people safe’.

The northern areas that will have tighter restrictions are Greater Manchester, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees.

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Mr Hancock wrote on Twitter: ‘We’re constantly looking at the latest data on the spread of coronavirus, and unfortunately we’ve seen an increasing rate of transmission in parts of Northern England.

‘We’ve been working with local leaders across the region, and today I chaired a meeting of the Local Action Gold Committee.

‘Based on the data, we decided that in Greater Manchester, parts of West Yorkshire & East Lancashire we need to take immediate action to keep people safe.

‘The spread is largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing. So from midnight tonight, people from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors in these areas.

‘We take this action with a heavy heart, but we can see increasing rates of covid across Europe and are determined to do whatever is neccessary to keep people safe.’

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: ‘Over recent days, there has been a marked change in the picture across Greater Manchester with regard to the spread of Covid-19.

‘We have gone from a falling rate of cases in nearly all of our boroughs last week to a rising rate in nine out of 10 affecting communities across a much wider geography. In Rochdale, the one borough where cases have fallen, they are still too high.

‘We have always said that we will remain vigilant and be ready to respond quickly should the need arise. In line with that approach, I have agreed with the Health Secretary that it is right to act on the precautionary principle and introduce modest measures now to bring down the rate of new infections.

‘I ask all Greater Manchester residents – young and old alike – to protect each other by observing these new requirements. They will be reviewed weekly; meaning the more we stick to them, the quicker they will be removed.

‘This is a place which prides itself on looking out for each other. We now need to be true to that by not acting selfishly and keeping the health of others in mind at all times.’

This is a breaking news story – more follows.

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