Cheshire East residents have been urged to stick to lockdown rules or risk being plunged into further local restrictions over Christmas.

The authority's Labour leader Cllr Sam Corcoran, says the rise in infections across the region over the past few weeks needs to be tackled firmly to prevent the borough returning to a tiered system of controls after December 2.

Public health chiefs have issued the warning as Cheshire East reached 248 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days.

The council leader said: "The majority of residents are doing the right thing by adhering to social distancing and travel restrictions, but there are a minority who are undoing all of this good work through complacency and selfishness.

"Covid-19 remains a real threat and we all must work together or rates will continue to increase which means we could face stricter restrictions.

"Now is not a time to be complacent."

The council's Director of Public Health Dr Matt Tyrer said: "If we make sensible decisions maybe we can avoid having further localised restrictions imposed on us over Christmas.

"If you have any symptoms of Covid-19 you must self-isolate immediately and get a test. Typical symptoms to look for include high fever, a continuous cough and loss of taste or smell.

"You can book a test online by visiting the government testing website or by calling 119. If you have a positive test or are alerted by a contact tracer, play your part to protect your community by self-isolating for at least 10 days.

All residents are being reminded to:

Stay at home; only leave home for essential travel, work and to shop for food or medicines; work from home where possible; not to mix with others outside of household or support bubbles; and to wash hands regularly and wear a face covering in places where social distancing is difficult.

Retail staff are also being told to wear a face covering unless they are always behind a screen and outlets are advised to report poor customer compliance to Cheshire Police.