Government places Horley into tier 4 restrictions

The town is part of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, all of which has been placed into the toughest tier of restrictions.

Large swathes of the south east including London and Kent have been issued with a stay at home order as cases in the area soar.

In a statement, councillor Mark Brunt, leader of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council said: “Reigate and Banstead along with the rest of Surrey (excluding Waverley) is now under Tier 4: Stay at Home restrictions.

“This means tighter measures as well as a withdrawal of the planned easing of restrictions over the Christmas period.

“This decision has been taken by ministers – less than 24 hours after the borough moved into Tier 3: Very High – following a significant rise in infections attributed to the rapid spread of a new variant of Covid-19 across large parts of South East England, including in our borough and across Surrey.

“We know that the announcement of these new stronger measures will be incredibly hard to take, not only for each of us as individuals but also for many of our local businesses, especially those in hospitality and retail who will be significantly impacted.”

It has been a challenging year, he added. Councillor Brunt said: “Many of us will now not be able to spend Christmas how we had planned. However, we must stay strong and follow these new restrictions in order to play our part in keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe and protecting our valuable NHS.”

The new restrictions are closely aligned to those in place during the national November lockdown, and mean:

People should stay at home except for limited exceptions (e.g. for essential travel for work, education or medical appointments)

People cannot meet indoors with anyone not in your household or existing support bubble

People can only meet outdoors with one person from another household

People must not travel into/out of a Tier 4 area except for limited exceptions (e.g. for essential travel for work, education or medical appointments)

All non-essential shops, personal care, indoor gyms as well as hospitality venues must close.

Full details of the new Tier 4: Stay at Home restrictions, including additional exceptions, can be found on the GOV.uk website.

The planned easing of restrictions for five days over Christmas has been cancelled for those within Tier 4 areas, meaning that you cannot form or join a Christmas bubble.

People living in Tiers 1-3, can now only meet with two other households for one day only, on Christmas day, instead of the five days previously announced.