Only three areas in England - Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, and the Isle of Scilly - will be placed into the lowest level of local restrictions from next next.

The whole of the North East and large parts of the North West, the Midlands, and Yorkshire and The Humber have been placed into the toughest tier.

Slough, Kent and Medway, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset will also be placed into Tier 3.

Mr Hancock said local authorities facing the higher restrictions will receive increased funding from Government.

He said: 'We have increased funding through our Contain Outbreak Management Fund, which will provide monthly payments to local authorities facing higher restrictions.

'We are also launching a major community testing programme, honing in on the areas with the greatest rate of infection.

'This programme is open to local authorities in tier 3 areas and offers help to get out of the toughest restrictions as fast as possible.'

However, Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, criticised the lack of business support being provided to those in Tier 3.

He said: ‘The new Tier 3 will hit the hospitality sector extremely hard. While there are grants for businesses forced to close, there is no extra support for business which supply them like security, catering and cleaning.

’This will cause real hardship for people whose jobs will be affected and risk the loss of many businesses.’