Scots face being FINED if they leave Level 3 or 4 areas under draconian new lockdown rules

SCOTS placed under draconian Level 3 or Level 4 lockdown rules will break the law if they try to leave their local area - and will face fines too.

Pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops in 11 areas in Scotland, including Glasgow, will be forced to shut for three weeks from 6pm on Friday in a last ditch attempt to save Christmas, Nicola Sturgeon said today.

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The City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian will all move to Level 4 - in a circuit breaker national lockdown in all but name.

However, schools will remain open even under highest level of lockdown measures.

The First Minister warned today that nobody living in Level 3 or Level 4 areas will be allowed to travel outside their own council area - and will be ordered to stay at home.

And Scots living elsewhere in the country won't be able to go to any areas under Level 3 or Level 4 lockdown.

Fines starting at £60 - and jumping up to as high as £960 - are expected to be handed out to anyone found to be breaking the rules.

But Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs said police would not be "routinely" stopping vehicles and putting road blocks at the border.

Cops would use "common sense and discretion" to decide whether to dole out penalties to people breaking the rules.

He said: "However, officers may in the course of their duties come across people who are travelling from on local authority area to another."

It means minor infractions are unlikely to be fined - and people caught out are likely just to be sent back home.

Ms Sturgeon said today a "limited period" of the strictest measures could allow the tough rules to be relaxed in time for Christmas.

She said: "Level 4 is intended to be short and sharp and in this situation it is intended to have an impact in advance of Christmas and the most challenging winter period.

"These decisions will give us the best possible chance - albeit in a limited and careful way - of being able to ease restrictions in all parts of Scotland for Christmas."

The Level 4 rules are the closest to "full lockdown" in March, with non-essential shops forced to shut again, along with bars, restaurants, hairdressers and tourist attractions.

The restrictions will be lifted on December 11 for areas under the toughest lockdown areas.

It would mirror Boris Johnson's hopes that tougher regional lockdowns in the first half of December could rescue the festive season.

But she warned there were growing fears about the daily number of new cases, despite Scotland's tough two week circuit breaker lockdown from October 9 to October 25.

It came as:

• A PHE chief raised the prospect of a ban on household mixing through the winter to keep transmission low
• Matt Hancock confirmed that 5million doses of the new Moderna vaccine had been secured - after it was found to be 94 per cent effective
• Boris Johnson sparked a furious row by saying devolution was a disaster and Tony Blair's "biggest mistake"
• Average positive coronavirus cases went up last week - but the Covid symptom app said cases were flatlining

The First Minister acknowledged the difficult circumstance Scots had been dealt, saying the decisions were "unpalatable but necessary".

"I absolutely understand the impact on businesses of all sizes, and small businesses in particular," the First Minister said.

And Ms Sturgeon injected a positive note into her announcement, telling people they could look forward to the spring when restrictions can be eased as vaccinations can hopefully start to be rolled out nationwide.

Mr Johnson has said he wants there to be a common approach to Covid restrictions over Christmas across the four nations.

And today Ms Sturgeon said she hoped people could look forward to some "respite" over the festive season.

It would mean people with family in different parts of the UK wouldn't fall foul of different rules from the devolved administrations.

England is expected to be plunged back into a regional lockdown - known as Tiers - but it could be even tougher than the system in place before the national measures in order to release people for Christmas dinners, it was suggested last night.

It could mean even Brits in parts of the country with the lowest infection rates could face up to a household mixing ban after December 2 - which is the next level up from Tier 1.

And sources told Politico that a possible ban on indoor socialising would take place in the first weeks of December.

The hope would be that cases could remain low enough that they could be eased over the festive period.