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'Tier 1 ends at my garden wall': Village split in two by coronavirus restrictions

Local resident David Mather and Kath Sharpe, the parish councillor for Langwith, slammed the restrictions. (SWNS)
Local resident David Mather and Kath Sharpe, the parish councillor for Langwith, slammed the restrictions. (SWNS)

A village has been split in two by the coronavirus tiers as angry residents hit out at the government over the new restrictions.

Residents on either side of Portland Road in the village of Langwith are subject to different social distancing measures since the boundary between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire runs down the middle of the street.

Those living on the east side are in Derbyshire under Tier 1 restrictions, while those on the west side are in Nottinghamshire under Tier 2.

According to latest guidelines people to the west of the road can meet socially in groups of six indoors while to the east, people are prohibited from socialising indoors with anyone outside their household.

An aerial view of Portland Road in Langwith. (SWNS)
An aerial view of Portland Road in Langwith. (SWNS)

Dave Mather, 69, owns a three bedroom terraced house on the Derbyshire side of Portland Road.

He said: "The whole thing is absolutely crazy, Tier 1 ends at my garden wall.

"I have friends who live across the street from me that I can't see anymore, I just have to shout to them from over here.

Read more: East Midlands COVID surge as Nottingham records highest case rate in England

"Considering we live in the same village on the same street I don't see how that makes any sense.

"The village has been divided in two, that's not right. The whole thing is silly."

The village was split in two last week when Nottinghamshire was plunged into tier two after recording a seven-day infection rate of 830 per 100,000 people – the highest in the country.

Watch: Nottinghamshire towns forced into lockdown despite few cases

Parish councillor Kath Sharpe, 72, has also slammed the implementation of restrictions and called for "common sense" to be applied.

She said: "The situation is bizarre. We should have been looked at as a community as opposed to two separate groups.

"We're a tiny little rural village that has found ourselves stuck in the middle. The people here don't want or deserve to be split up like this, everyone has behaved impeccably throughout the pandemic.”

Derbyshire Labour councillor Joan Dixon echoed Sharpe’s feelings in a social media post last week.

She said: "There is some local amusement but there is also the sense that the rules are becoming very complicated and people are weary now.

"There are a lot of close-knit families in that community who will be affected."

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