º£½ÇÊÓƵ

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to return the country to the tier system as the Covid-19 lockdown comes to an end.

In a letter sent in advance of next week’s expected announcement of the timetable for easing restrictions, the mayor has called on Mr Johnson 'not to throw away all of the progress made by peoples’ sacrifice and hard work during the latest lockdown and vaccine rollout'.

Citing the region’s experiences over the festive period, when the Liverpool City Region was "an island amongst an ocean of higher risk areas," Mr Rotheram warned that a return to 'such a patchwork set of restrictions risks a return to the confusion over restrictions that went before'.

In his letter Mr Rotheram said: "The tier system was supposed to provide consistency and clarity on the restrictions imposed by government. But in practice the system helped to create chaos and confusion and undermine local efforts to tackle the virus.

"Our hard work meant that we were able to maintain our lower tier status in both the pre-and post-Christmas periods, while neighbouring areas found themselves placed into higher tiers. This resulted in a number of unforeseen problems.

"Our region became an island amongst an ocean of higher risk areas. People in neighbouring communities, understandably frustrated by having their freedoms curtailed began to travel into our city region to enjoy the food, nightlife and culture that we are famous for.

"My office received countless complaints from members of the public and business owners alike, all concerned about the influx of people from higher risk areas.