The leader of South Kesteven District Council says he and local MPs will continue to lobby central government to remove the district from the highest Tier of Covid-19 restrictions.

Coun Kelham Cooke made the pledge after being quizzed by Stamford town and district councillor Amanda Wheeler at a 'full' meeting of SKDC this afternoon.

Coun Wheeler noted that calls from Stamford especially for South Lincolnshire to be treated differently from the rest of Lincolnshire had been "completely overlooked" by the government, with Health Secretary Matt Hancock keeping the whole county in Tier 3.

This was despite Stamford having a lower number of cases.

"This is a devastating time for our local businesses, many of them are struggling. What can you do to support them. What are you and our MPs doing to to address this?"

Coun Cooke said he would continue to support residents and businesses. There would be discretionary grants, especially for those in hospitality and he would raise the support issue with Business Lincolnshire.

Both local MPs, he continued, Gareth Davies for Grantham and Stamford and Deepings MP Sir John Hayes, "have been working closely with ministers to get us removed from Lincolnshire."

Coun Cooke said such a decision was "not within our gift" but he would like South Kesteven to be treated separately.

"We will continue to make representations," he said, including to Lincolnshire Council Leader Martin Hill.

Coun Cooke added Stamford could not be 'split off' on its own as there were 'issues' at Peterborough Hospital.

"We will continue to make representations to government to get this Tier 3 removed."

Earlier today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock was questioned by Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh on why some parts of Lincolnshire could not be separated from others.

Mr Hancock said: "We did look very closely at the southern end of Lincolnshire, which is a long way from where the rates are incredibly elevated around Lincoln, the coast and West Lindsey.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to bring any of the lower tier authorities in Lincolnshire out of tier 3 and, over the border in Peterborough, we have seen a very sharp increase.

"So we're not there yet, but I hope we can make significant progress."