Social gatherings of more than six people will be illegal in England from Monday as the Government seeks to curb the rise in coronavirus cases.
The tough new rules see the size of groups people can meet in slashed from 30 - with fines of up to £3200 for those who break the rules.
The announcement came just hours after Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied the Government has “lost control” of the coronavirus pandemic, despite new cases more than doubling.
For a second day running, almost 3,000 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded yesterday. Just a week ago, the daily total was less than 1,300.