Wigan pub on Lancashire border will face new measures

Residents and businesses across Lancashire are gearing up for new restrictions which start tomorrow.

The following rules come into force on Tuesday:

• People mustn't socialise with other households in their homes or private gardens

• Hospitality limited to table service only

• Late opening hours restricted, with leisure venues like pubs, restaurants and cinemas having to close between 10pm and 5am

• Residents will also be advised to avoid public transport, aside from essential services.

Ian Roscoe runs the Delph Tavern in Wigan, which is just fifty yards into Lancashire.

As a result, Ian will have to follow the new rules, something he says will hit his business hard: "It's not a question of whether somebody's going to come here and drink until ten and then leave us and walk up the road.

"What will probably happen is - quite rightly - people will go to another place and sit there all night without having to move, so I am going to lose out on that trade.

"On Tuesday, I'll be closing my doors and shutting my pub at 10pm. Quite easily, people can leave my pub at 10pm, walk a hundred yards across the border and continue drinking."

Lancashire County Council's director of public health Dr Sakthi Karunanithi said the restrictions came as daily cases of Covid-19 had doubled in the area and hospital admissions had started to rise.

Blackpool is the only place in Lancashire that's exempt from the new restrictions.

However, residents are being reminded to stick to the rules after pictures on social media showed huge numbers of people there at the weekend, despite warnings to stay away from Lancashire police.