Health Secretary Matt Hancock has spoken in the House of Commons this lunchtime to reveal the revised tier restrictions.

Cases are up by 46% in the past week in the south-east of England and up by two-thirds in the east of England.

From Saturday, the following areas face tougher restrictions by moving to Tier 3: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Surrey (except Waverley), Hastings and Rother, Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant.

Bristol and North Somerset are the only two locations to be downgraded to Tier 2, with Herefordshire moving to Tier 1.

Those theatres in tier 3 affected will have to either remain closed, or close after tomorrow evening’s performances. Venues in the aforementioned Tier 1 & 2 areas will be permitted to open with social distancing and capacity restrictions in place.