Residents have been asked not to visit Watford town centre unless “absolutely necessary” after the town was placed in Tier 4 coronavirus restrictions in a bid to combat spiralling infection rates.

Vicki Costello, centre director at intu Watford, made the plea following Boris Johnson’s announcement yesterday that most of the South East of England would essentially be placed back into lockdown in the new Tier 4.

She said: “Following the latest government announcement that Watford will be placed into Tier 4, intu Watford will be closed for non-essential retail from Sunday, December 20 until further notice.

“We ask people not to visit the town centre unless absolutely necessary and if doing so, please wear a face covering, wash your hands and maintain social distancing. We will continue our thorough cleaning regime throughout the entire centre during this period.

“Kings, Palace and Charter car parks will remain open.”

A full list of essential retailers that will remain open, such as banks, will be posted online at www.watford-shopping.co.uk in due course.

Under the new Tier 4 rules non-essential shops – as well as gyms, cinemas, casinos and hairdressers – have to stay shut and people are limited to meeting one other person from another household in an outdoor public space.

Those in Tier 4 were told they should not travel out of the region, while those outside were advised against visiting.

“What is really important is that people not only follow them (the new rules) but everybody in a Tier 4 area acts as if you have the virus to stop spreading it to other people,” Mr Hancock told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

Scientists on the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) have concluded the VUI 202012/01 mutant strain, identified by the Public Health England laboratories at Porton Down, is spreading more quickly.

The Prime Minister was advised of the group’s conclusions at a meeting with ministers on the Covid O Committee on Friday evening, and the new regulations were signed off by Cabinet before Saturday’s announcement scuppered many people’s plans to see family for Christmas.

“We know with this new variant you can catch it more easily from a small amount of the virus being present,” Mr Hancock said.

“All of the different measures we have in place, we need more of them to control the spread of the new variant than we did to control the spread of the old variant. That is the fundamental problem.