A council leader has warned that any of the six Hertfordshire districts still in Tier 2 could potentially join the four areas moving up.

Hertfordshire County Council leader David Williams said St Albans, Welwyn Hatfield, Stevenage, Dacorum, North Herts and East Herts will be included in the planned Government Tier review tomorrow (December 16).

It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced Watford, Hertsmere, Three Rivers, and Broxbourne will move into Tier 3 from 12.01am Wednesday.

This means pubs and restaurants will close except for delivery and takeaway.

In a statement, Mr Williams said: “The Government has announced that four of the 10 district council areas in Hertfordshire (Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Three Rivers and Watford) will move to the ‘Very High’ level (Tier 3) of local COVID alert categories from 00:01 on Wednesday 16 December. 

“The other six district council areas in Hertfordshire will remain at ‘High’ alert level (Tier 2) but will be included alongside all other areas in England as part of the Tier review planned for Wednesday 16 December.”

He also urged residents across the county to “stay disciplined and stick to the guidance if we are to improve the situation in Hertfordshire”.

He said: “In recent weeks we have been stressing the crucial importance of everyone in Hertfordshire following the rules and guidance around social contact and distancing, wearing face-coverings when required and washing your hands regularly.

“We must all now redouble these efforts, particularly as we all plan for how we will follow the rules over the Christmas and New Year period including, the ‘Christmas bubble’ guidance. We must all keep playing our part to help reduce the number of cases in the county, so we can ultimately work towards returning to the type of lives we enjoyed before the pandemic.”