As of midnight last night, London, south east and the east of England have all been placed in the new harsher restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Under the new restrictions, people in tier 4 must stay at home apart from limited exemptions set out in law.
Non-essential retail, indoor gyms and leisure facilities and personal care services must close.
People are also urged to work from home if they can but may travel to work if they have too.
The Government have banned anyone entering or leaving tier 4 areas and people may not stay overnight away from home.
However, revellers across the capital have already broke the new lockdown rules despite the threat of spreading the virus.
Groups of young people were photographed huddled together in Portobello Road in London.
In the photographs, the groups of people were seen outside the Distillery bar drinking on the street.
But most shockingly, none of the drinkers were wearing masks and clearly ignoring the new lockdown measures.
If someone is found to be breaking the new rules, the police can now fine them and even arrest them if they think it is proportionate and necessary.
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak urges savers to splash out lockdown cash to revive economy
Thousands of people flocked to London last night to get away from the capital before the new measures were imposed.
Extra police have since been deployed at train stations to stop fleeing Londoners following the new restrictions.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock attacked those who fled the city saying it was “totally irresponsible”.
He told Sky News: “This was clearly totally irresponsible behaviour and the Chief Medical Officer was absolutely clear that people should unpack their bags if they have them packed.
“I think that it’s relatively small numbers and the vast majority of people in the pandemic have followed the rules and played their part.
“It is more important than ever that people are responsible, not only stick to the rules but within the rules restrict social contact as much as is possible because this is deadly serious.”
These new measures come after latest data from the Office of National Statistics revealed a new variant is spreading rapidly in the tier 4 regions.
Mr Johnson warned: “Although the new variant is concentrated in tier 4 areas, it is nonetheless present at lower levels around the country.
“We are asking everyone, in all tiers, to stay local.”
