A Cornish MP has said that “we can safely assume” that Cornwall will be in Tier One once the current lockdown ends next week.

Derek Thomas, MP for St Ives, wrote on his Facebook page that he expected that Cornwall would be placed in the lowest risk group when the lockdown ends on December 2.

He wrote: “We can safely assume that Cornwall and Scilly will be categorised as Tier One as we come out of national lockdown at midnight on Tuesday next week.”

The MP, who had voted against the Government’s decision to enter a national lockdown last month, set out some of the new rules in his post.

He states: “The Government has budged on the issues that people raised with me: all retail can open; church congregations can meet in person again; hairdressers, nail salons etc can open; people can play golf, tennis and attend sporting events; gyms and leisure centres can reopen.

“And the 10pm pub curfew has gone! (Hospitality is closed in tier 3).

“The rule of six still applies inside and out which presents a challenge for families and I’m hopeful we can make the case to drop this soon in Tier One. Apparently over Christmas exemptions will apply.”

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Steve Double, MP for St Austell and Newquay, welcomed the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday about the new restrictions next week.

On his Facebook page he said: “We will return to a localised tier system. We wait to find out what tier Cornwall will be in at the end of this week.

“With the level of cases in recent weeks Cornwall may be placed in tier two, however with the number of cases falling last week there is a chance we will be returned to tier one.

“What is important is that we do not become complacent and continue to keep to restrictions and all play our part in keeping each other safe and the number of cases falling.”

Rob Nolan, Cabinet member for public protection at Cornwall Council , said that he thought that the council would be told which tier Cornwall will be in on Tuesday.

However he said that it was more likely that the information would be provided on Thursday.

He said on Twitter: “Let’s hope we’re in Tier One.”

Falmouth Packet:

Under the new restrictions announced by the Government yesterday Tier One is classed as medium alert.

This will allow people to meet up in a group of a maximum of six indoors or outdoors. Overnight stays are permitted up to six people.

Bars, pubs and restaurants are allowed to open but must be table service only. They should stop taking orders at 10pm and close by 11pm.

Shops are allowed to open as are accommodation businesses, personal care businesses, entertainment venues and indoor leisure venues such as gyms.

However people are encouraged to work from home where possible and people are advised to avoid busy times on public transport.

Places of worship can open but people cannot interact with more than six people.

Live events can also take place with sport, performances and business meetings limited to 50 per cent capacity or 4,000 people outdoors (whichever is lowest) and 50 per cent capacity or 1,000 people indoors (whichever is lowest).

Weddings can take place with  a maximum of 15 guests while funerals can have up to 30 guests.

Tier one areas will also be allowed to have visits to residential care homes under covid-secure arrangements such as screens, visiting pods and window visits.

A formal announcement on which tier local areas will be in is expected to be made by the Government on Thursday.