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Large swathes of the East Midlands have been placed under the Government鈥檚 new middle tier of lockdown restrictions.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was bringing areas with existing localised restrictions under the second tier of his three stage system.

Within the East Midlands that would include Leicester city and the neighbouring borough of Oadby and Wigston.

And he said he would be adding Nottinghamshire 鈥� understood to include Nottingham 鈥� and 鈥減arts鈥� of the High Peak area, between Sheffield and Manchester in north Derbyshire, to the list.

It is understood those areas will see a ban on households mixing indoors, although a maximum of six people would still be able to meet outdoors.

One regional business group said the new rules were much better than the 鈥渉aphazard approach up until now.

The new traffic-light system will have three tiers 鈥� medium, high and very high 鈥� and will be voted on in the Commons on Tuesday, coming into force on Wednesday.

He said he had already come to an agreement with council leaders on Merseyside about placing it under tier three restrictions, which would see pubs, bars, gyms, leisure centres, betting shops and casinos close. A stop would also be placed on any households mixing.

Other areas in the North West, North Wast, Humber and Yorkshire could follow.

However, the PM said shops, schools and universities would stay open.

Regions with the lowest infection rates will be placed in tier one, and will continue facing national restrictions such as the so-called 鈥渞ule of six鈥� and 10pm pub and restaurant curfews.

The Prime Minister said the Government will cover two-thirds of the wage bills of companies that are forced to close, and provide grants of up to 拢3,000 a month 鈥� up from the current 拢1,500 every three weeks.

He also said he was providing an extra 拢1 billion to help local councils on top of the existing 拢3.6 billion Towns Fund, and giving more money for test and trace in areas with very high rates of infection.

Leicester MP Claudia Webbe tweeted a on Monday afternoon to confirm that the city will be subject to tier 2 coronavirus restrictions, which would allow two households to meet in gardens again.

She said: 鈥淟eicester will be on local alert level two. This means there will be a relaxation on private gardens to the rule of six.

鈥淭his appears to be in line with the Northern and Midlands MP briefing held last week Whilst Leicester #COVID19 cases have increased it鈥檚 been at a slower rate.鈥�

Restrictions preventing people from meeting in indoor settings, and stopping friends and family from visiting each other鈥檚 homes will remain in place for people living in the city.

Nottingham MPs were also told prior to the PM鈥檚 speech on Monday that the city and the county of Nottinghamshire would be under tier two Covid restrictions 鈥� meaning despite the high incidences of Covid-19 there, pubs, bars and restaurants will to avoid forced closures.

Nottingham 鈥� which has the highest rates in the country 鈥� will have the same restrictions as Bassetlaw and Mansfield, which have significantly lower rates.

MPs and public health bosses received a virtual briefing from the Department of Health and Social Care, and were informed of the categorisation.

It is understood part of the reason Nottingham was not placed in tier three was because the infection is currently predominantly among younger people, and is yet to cause a significant spike in people aged 60 and over, who are more at risk from the virus.

It comes after an increase of 353 positive tests in 24 hours, by far the most in the county.

As of Sunday October 11, there have been a total of 5,658 cases throughout the pandemic in Nottingham, according to the Government鈥檚 data.

The city is currently in the national spotlight after data revealed the city has seen the highest weekly rate of new Covid-19 cases in England.

Mr Johnson said: 鈥淭he medium alert level will cover most of the country and will consist of the current national measures, this includes the rule of six and the closure of hospitality at 10pm.鈥�

East Midlands Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: 鈥淭he principle of a tiered lockdown system makes it much easier to understand than the haphazard approach we鈥檝e had until this point, which has only served to cause confusion, but it needs to be applied sensibly.

鈥淲e know, for example, there have been large spikes of coronavirus cases in a number of university cities, which universities are working to contain. But in these circumstances, the cases are fairly concentrated in certain areas and there are many wards where cases remain relatively low.

鈥淭his means decisions on local lockdowns must be based on more than numbers and instead consider the wider context, such as the extent to which cases are contained within certain communities and the trajectory at which they are increasing or decreasing.

鈥淎n exit strategy has to be absolutely clear. Our region was home to the first city to go into local lockdown, when stricter measures were placed on Leicester at the end of June. These have yet to be lifted fully and there are many lessons we can take from the way restrictions have been handled here.

鈥淔irstly, a robust communications plan is crucial to ensure everyone is on the same page is critical. There have been occasions when people in Leicester have awaited an update to the situation but the Government has missed its own review timetable, meaning the city has often felt forgotten about.

鈥淎lso, we鈥檝e seen the huge impact a local lockdown has had on Leicester businesses so the Government must be ready to respond with additional, tailored support in the form of grants if and when required in order to prevent companies that would otherwise be viable from collapsing due to enforced closure.

鈥淲hile Rishi Sunak鈥檚 announcement on Friday provided some welcome relief to employers in the extension to the Job Support Scheme, it鈥檚 likely the 拢3,000 monthly grants that are being offered won鈥檛 be anywhere near enough to plug the gap needed for businesses to meet fixed costs.

鈥淭here has also been little consideration of the knock-on impact this will have on other businesses in the supply chain that aren鈥檛 necessarily forced to close but will be significantly affected by losing customers, as well as other associated industries that rely on the hospitality trade, including 鈥� but not limited to 鈥� transport providers.

鈥淎longside a better communication strategy for the general public so they are kept abreast of how decisions are made and reviewed, it鈥檚 crucial that Westminster doesn鈥檛 just take a sledgehammer to large swathes of the economy without proper consultation with local authorities.

鈥淭hese are best placed to understand how their areas work and will have ideas on how to make subtle changes that don鈥檛 grind entire cities and regions to a halt.鈥�