A TYNE Valley councillor has called for Northumberland to remain in tier 3 restrictions following a spike in coronavirus cases in the south-west of the county.

Coun. Karen Quinn, who represents the Bywell ward, was speaking at Wylam Parish Council's meeting on Monday night.

Hexham Courant:

Coun. Quinn said she was responding to questions from members of the public who felt the Tynedale area was being "lumped in" with the rest of the county despite having lower infection rates than the likes of Newcastle and the urban south-east of Northumberland.

She said: "Quite a few people were feeling Northumberland is lumped in with the rest of the North-East.

"You only have to look at Haltwhistle. It must be one of the worst areas in England.

Compared to the start of this lockdown, when the south east was the worst, it seems to have moved. The situation is really quite bad.

"Bywell is still keeping a lid on it, but the situation can change in a flash. Things are bad in Haltwhistle.

"Until that gets sorted out, we're in the right tier and we should stay there until it's sorted out."

A decision will be taken on Northumberland's tier restrictions on Wednesday.

Hexham Courant:

As of Tuesday, Haltwhistle had seen the most cases of coronavirus confirmed in Northumberland over the previous week, with 72 cases.

Neighbouring Haydon and Hadrian was the second-worst hit ward, with 40 cases.