The leader of the opposition at Norfolk County Council has called on people to act as though the county is in the highest tier of restrictions - whatever happens after Christmas.

It has been widely speculated that with a new variant of Covid-19 spreading and cases on the rise that Norfolk may find itself in a higher tier of restriction sooner rather than later.

However, Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at County Hall, has called on people not to wait for a tier review to be announced before taking extra precautions.

He said: "If a higher tier is inevitable it is a question of when rather than whether we face more restrictions and we can not afford to wait.

"We must grasp the season of goodwill to all steel ourselves. From Boxing Day, whatever the tier we're in we should behave as if we are under the most stringent restrictions.

"Our focus should be on supporting those who are suffering most - not just from the virus but the effects of the disruption to their mental health, jobs, families and businesses."

In his rallying cry, Mr Morphew urged people to take restrictions into their own hands, whether Norfolk is moved up or not.

He added: "It is time to end the misleading messages that Norfolk is open for business and somehow different from elsewhere. We're not.

"Earlier pleas for Norfolk to be in a lower tier and the complacent messages that encouraged people to think its okay to bend the rules have let us down.

"We all know what we have to do to reduce contact and reduce the spread.

"It's tough, we've all had enough and digging even deeper is no easy ask.

"There are things we can do like enjoying Norfolk parks and countryside as close to your home as possible - keeping cars off the road reduces the pressure on all our emergency services.

"Never mind the tier number, if we all behave as if we are in the highest tier from Boxing Day, the sooner we will be able to smile, touch, hug, socialise and enjoy each other."