Post Desk : More of the east and south east of England will enter the toughest Tier 4 lockdown on Boxing Day, Matt Hancock has announced.

The Health Secretary revealed the stricter measures at a Downing Street press conference as he said the virus was “spreading at a dangerous rate”.

Areas to enter Tier 4 include Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, parts of Essex currently not covered and Waverley in Surrey.

Hampshire, with the exception of the New Forest, will also be moved into Tier 4.

Genomic researchers have found the new variant, which is said to be 70 per cent more infectious than previous strains, has already spread around the UK.

wo cases of another new strain of Covid-19 linked to South Africa have also been identified in the UK, Mr Hancock announced.