Non-essential retailers across London and the Southeast were told to shut up shop from midnight on Sunday, December 20, by the government.

The decision, which retailers were given with less than 12 hours’ notice, comes as a highly contagious new strain of Covid-19 triggered a spike in cases across London and other regions in the Southeast including Kent, Buckinghamshire and Portsmouth.

Under the new tier four restrictions people have been told to return to the ‘stay at home’ guidance issued during the first national lockdown in March and discard previous Christmas instructions.