GREATER Manchester (GM) mayor Andy Burnham welcomed the Government's move to tighten coronavirus restrictions late on Thursday.

But he criticised the Government's lack of detail about the change, which was announced only a couple of hours before it came into place.

From today, Friday, people in GM can no longer meet other households indoors or in gardens unless they have formed a "social bubble" with them.

Figures revealed by the mayor showed that Bolton's seven day rate of positive tests rose slightly from 12.2 per 100,000 in the week ending July 18 to 15.6 in the latest week.

The Bolton News:

Across GM, nine out of the 10 boroughs' rates increased with Rochdale being the only one that has seen a reduction after restrictions were imposed following a spike in COVID-19 cases.

When questioned about whether Bolton residents may feel aggrieved about being subjected to the restrictions Mr Burnham said: "I don't think it's helpful to do it on a borough by borough basis.

"The overall picture is that cases are growing all over the city region.

"If we took Bolton out, Bolton would have a much bigger problem within a week or two's time and I don't think anybody in Bolton would thank us for doing that."

Deputy mayor Sir Richard Leese added Bolton has a relatively high covid-19 rate.

Sir Leese Sir Richard Leese also said there has been a "significant increase" in the number of young people testing positive for COVID-19

Illegal raves would have "undoubtedly" played a part in that he says

Mr Burnham also put the lack of financial support for people in low income jobs under the spotlight once again, calling for the Government to provide them with support.

He also added that the national test and tracing system has "got gaping holes in it" in terms of successfully tracking down people from the area.

And he added "we know there is still a relatively low contact rate in our more deprived areas".

The mayor also believes people who have been shielding are getting mixed messages.

He said on one hand restrictions have been tightened but on the other support for people shielding is being stopped.

Mr Burnham is calling on the Government to extend the shielding support and give funds to councils to help with this

Meanwhile, deputy mayor for policing, Baroness Beverley Hughes, says police will intervene in large gatherings but will be difficult to step in to prevent smaller groups meeting up.

She said the police are very "overstretched" and there have been some very serious cases recently.

Engage, encourage, explain and enforce, if necessary, will continue to be the response in policing the public.