Lancashire will reportedly move into a Tier 3 lockdown shutting pubs "within hours" as the row over Manchester restrictions goes on.
Discussions between ministers and local leaders in the northern county in relation to a financial package are still ongoing, with a decision imminent, reports Sky News.
The Liverpool City Region is currently the only area of the country in the top tier with people banned from socialising with other households both indoors and in private gardens, while bars and pubs are closed unless they can operate as restaurants only.
It comes as Tory MPs stepped up the pressure on Boris Johnson over his handling of the second wave as a bitter row festers with Northern leaders.
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