West Bay's plight of being placed in Tier Two despite not having any reported coronavirus cases has caused confusion across the country.

It's been reported the area is one of the only places in England to so far have no positive cases, news shared in national newspapers.

Residents are wondering why the area has been in placed in Tier Two and why the Dorset Council area is in the same level as the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council area despite case rates being quite different.

The current infection rate in Dorset Council is 64 cases per 100,000 and 138 cases per 100,000 in the BCP area.

Dorset Council, BCP Council and Public Health Dorset explained that the Government looked at more than just case rates to determine what tier each area should be in.

In a live update following the announcement the county would be in Tier Two, they received a number of questions asking why Dorset was with the BCP area in the high alert level.

Aiden Dunn, executive director of corporate development at Dorset Council said: "It's really important to understand that the case rate is not the only factor that the Government has considered when assigning areas to tiers. One of the really important factors is about local context and it's really important that we remind ourselves that there are large numbers of people that travel between the town council areas for things like work and education, so the two areas are very much linked."

It is hoped that Dorset can be moved down to Tier One when it is reviewed on December 16.