YORK is to be under Tier 2 restrictions after the national lockdown measures end on December 2, it has been revealed.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire will also be in Tier 2, and East Yorkshire will be in Tier 3.

With York’s coronavirus rate lower than the regional and national averages, there had been calls for the city to be placed in Tier 1 - the lowest of the three tiers.

But this morning the gov.uk website confirmed "City of York Council will be in Tier 2: high alert" from December 2:

York Press:

York Central MP Rachael Maskell says the decision to place York in Tier 2 will be a "serious blow" for many businesses that are struggling. Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, York Outer MP Julian Sturdy has asked for the government to publish the data used to determine why York is in Tier 2. Click here for the full story.

In all tiers, essential and non-essential retail can remain open, but in Tier 2, pubs and bars must close, unless operating as restaurants. Hospitality venues can only serve alcohol with substantial meals.

Paul Crossman, licensee of the Swan, Slip Inn and Volunteer Arms in York and chair of the Campaign for Pubs, which has been leading national calls for urgent action to save pubs, said yesterday that none of his pubs served substantial meals and so would have to remain closed in Tier 2 after the lockdown finishes.

He said he was in a better position than many, in that two of the pubs were free houses, and they would survive, but he warned: “I think it’s inevitable that there will be some closures in York – that some pubs will never reopen.”

John Pybus, the landlord of the Blue Bell pub, in Fossgate, told The Press yesterday it would be an “exceptionally difficult trading environment for us” if the city was placed in Tier 2, “but we’ll have to see what we can do as it’s Christmas”.

The pub temporarily closed in response to the city moving into Tier 2 restrictions last month before the second national lockdown.

John added: “Any other month of the year the Tier 2 restrictions would make us unviable and we’d have to shut but because it’s Christmas we’d have to figure something out.”