After the announcement today of a government enforced local lockdown from midnight, many people in and around Preston are concerned about whether the lockdown will affect their household.

The local lockdown is imposed on anyone in the Preston City Council area, meaning it only applies to those paying their council tax to Preston City Council.

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This means that people from Longridge and South Ribble, including Penwortham, will not be affected by the localised lockdown but are urged to be cautious and sensible.

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, Director of Public Health for Lancashire, said: “Whilst these guidelines are legally enforced across Preston, my strong advice stays the same.

“This is an early warning sign for us in the county, we must take every precaution to avoid as much social contact as possible as well as avoiding meeting with members other households.

“Whilst this is legally enforced in Preston, we treat this as an early warning sign for the rest of the county.”

The city’s lockdown follows the same guidance already enforced in East Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen and Greater Manchester.

Read More: Preston residents urged to help prevent a local lockdown

Chief Executive of Preston City Council, Adrian Phillips said: “These are really important regulations and we have been asking people from last week to abide by not sharing households, not joining other people in their homes and not inviting other people into their own home.

“The reason for this is that when people bring people into their home its their sanctuary they are relaxed about it and they tend to let their guard down the virus is exploiting peoples lack of attention to the real danger that is there.

“We know this is going to restrict the way people live their lives but its incredibly important that everyone across our city boundaries abide by these regulations .

“We are concerned about the increase in COVID rates we have been monitoring it very closely. It affects all our city and all of our residents.

“We’ve got to get on with this, the danger is if we cant reduce the COVID outbreaks we will have to have further restrictions on peoples lives which is not to anyone’s benefit.”

What are the restrictions?

Prestonians will have to follow the same guidance as residents of Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen.

The local lockdown states that households cannot mix with other households indoors or in private gardens, unless you have formed a support bubble

This also means you are unable to visit someone else’s home or garden even if they live outside of the affected areas, and people from unaffected areas cannot visit you.

You are also unable to socialise with people you do not live with in other indoor public venues – such as pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, places of worship, community centres, leisure and entertainment venues, or visitor attractions.

Read more: New Deepdale Covid-19 test centre welcoming walk-ins

The government say that you may attend these venues with people you live with (or are in a support bubble with), but should avoid interaction with individuals or groups from other households.

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If you run such a business or organise events on their premises, you should take steps to ensure people do not interact with people they do not live with, in line with Covid-19 secure guidance

You should also avoid visiting friends or family in care homes, other than in exceptional circumstances. Care homes should restrict visits to these circumstances.

Read more: Winckley Square pop-up cycle lane to be removed

The government has also passed new laws to enforce the changes to meeting people in private homes and gardens as has been done in Greater Manchester, Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire.

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These laws allow police to take action against those that break these rules, including asking people to disperse and issuing fixed penalty notices (starting at £100 – halving to £50 if paid in the first 14 days – and doubling for subsequent offences).

Read More: Local lockdown expected in Preston in ‘next few days’

The areas in Preston affected by local lockdown are:

Ashton

Brookfield

Cadley

City Centre

Deepdale

Fishwick and Frenchwood

Garrison

Greyfriars

Ingol and Cottam

Lea and Larches

Plungington

Preston Rural East

Preston Rural North

Ribbleton

Sharoe Green

St Matthew’s

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines

How do you feel about the local lockdown? Let us know below.