THE leader of Cheshire East Council has joined his counterparts across the county to call on the government to "tighten up" Covid-19 restrictions.

In an open letter to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick, the council leaders along with the county's Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane, said the "liberal interpretation" of the lockdown meant more people are out of their homes compared to last spring.

They have called the government to implement measures on around how far people can travel to exercise and on travelling generally, while they want more done to enforce mask-wearing in public

The letter read: "The clarity of the 'stay at home' message is undermined by ambiguity between regulations and guidelines; making public compliance more difficult to secure and creating challenges for our enforcement authorities."

The letter noted the rise in travel, which is "more significant than in the previous lockdowns" and some people's reluctance to wear masks.

It stated: "We also have evidence that mask-wearing is not sufficiently enforceable in indoor public places, or in outdoor areas where people are in close proximity.

"We would support additional national measures that tighten these areas further, to be implemented alongside further financial support for businesses and their employees, and the self-employed."

Speaking on BBC North West Today, Cllr Corcoran said the 'stay local' guidance was "not consistent" with the legislation and he referenced Boris Johnson's bike ride in the Olympic Park, seven miles from Downing Street.

The "rapid escalation between tiers" Cheshire experienced over the Christmas period was also criticised by the council leaders in the letter.

"Nothing would be more destabilising to business than more uncertainty about the regulations they will face. We support retaining lockdown until we see a sustained period of reduced infection, the immediate pressures on our hospitals have been resolved, and the vaccine has protected those who are at highest risk of hospital admission and serious illness," the leaders wrote.

The letter has also asked ministers to give local authorities more local discretion in the rollout of the vaccine, arguing they would be better able to target specific communities.

Cllr Corcoran told the BBC: "One thing we did have concerns about was the government setting up the mass vaccination centres and encouraging some very elderly people to travel up to Manchester from Cheshire to get the vaccination. That causes problems.

"We do need better coordination from the government to local councils and the local NHS to manage the vaccination program, but I would praise the local NHS in rolling out the vaccine. It seems to be going quite smoothly in Cheshire East."

When asked whether the target of getting the top priority groups vaccinated by mid-February would be met locally, Cllr Corcoran described it as "ambitious but achievable".

While Cheshire East has seen a fall in infection rates over the last week (down seven per cent) the pressures on hospital admissions is ramping up.

There were 1,601 people testing positive in the week up to yesterday (January 13), when there were 175 positive tests. The latest rolling infection rate (January 8) in the borough was 441 per 100,000 population.

Some areas of Crewe, though, have much higher rates; Leighton has a rolling rate of 614.5 and the Mill Street and College area 732.4.

Cllr Corcoran said in a video message today (Thursday): "The numbers were increasing by over 200 a day, so 175 is relatively good news and suggests the restrictions are working.

"But it is still very high and much higher than some nearby areas. More disturbingly the pressure on our local hospitals is significant and any reduction in the number of new cases will take a week or so to feed through to a reduction in admissions. The next few weeks will be very difficult for the local NHS."

The Labour council leader also called for a proper test and trace system to be established for when the country comes out of lockdown and referenced a new National Audit Office report which criticises the government's £20 billion "private sector-run" system for "not achieving standards".