Northampton council leader urges residents to abide by second coronavirus lockdown rules

The Northampton Borough Council leader urged residents to stick to the lockdown rules and apologised to businesses closed as a result.

Jonathan Nunn told a virtual press conference this afternoon (Friday, November 6): "Businesses reacted incredibly positively to the regulations.

"Many who had struggled before the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and invested in PPE, screens and more to make themselves safe but the issues were when people came out of those businesses at 10pm.

"Clearly they had to close those businesses but on the news, we haven't seen people inside restaurants and bars, it's outside at 10.30pm when they're drinking and hugging in the street.

"We can come up with the precautions and restrictions we like but it's about what we do as individuals, particularly outside the regulated environments."

Northampton's Covid-19 infection rate remains significantly higher than the rest of the county at 167.4 cases per 100,000 people, according to the latest figures.

In the last 28 days, there have been 33 outbreaks, where there have been more than two cases in the same place, in the town.

Asked if he was surprised by the prime minister's national lockdown announcement on Saturday, Cllr Nunn said: "We were in tier one but we were on the edge of going into tier two.

"So we saw more restrictions coming before the national lockdown was announced which is difficult for us, particularly for people worried about businesses who have struggled for some time.

Cllr Nunn celebrated that more jobs are being created at Brackmills Industrial Estate but added that means more people getting the bus from the town centre and bus queues remain an 'area of concern'.

Another worry for public health officials and the public is small retailers that remain open as they sell essential goods but are not abiding by the restrictions.

"I'm sorry for businesses that invested and find themselves shut, we will focus on areas that are still worrying people like buses and stores," he added.

"We've just got to get through this and hopefully that's what this four-week lockdown does."