There are fears the Harrogate district could be dragged into a higher tier of coronavirus restrictions amid rising infections elsewhere in the county.

Scarborough is a particular concern as the seven-day average rate of infection has shot up to 254 per 100,000 people from about 150 a week ago.

The area also has the highest positive rates in the whole of the north east of England.

The Harrogate district has 86 infections per 100,000 people. It has remained at about the 90 mark for a few weeks now.

North Yorkshire is currently in tier two. But the possibility of dividing the county into different tiers was raised at a coronavirus press briefing this morning.

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Asked about the next tier review on December 30, Mr Webb said "up until now" local health leaders had not expected any change to the county's tier two status.

But he added cases were rising in parts of the county and the door remained open to splitting North Yorkshire into different tiers.

The government highlighted Scarborough as "the most concerning area" in North Yorkshire when it reviewed the tiers last week. Case rates have almost doubled since then.

Back then the government review concluded the "trajectory [did] not warrant tier three" but last weekend's events highlighted how quickly things can change.

Local health leaders told the forum no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus strain had been recorded in the county but nevertheless they acknowledged it could already be here.