West Dorset MP Chris Loder has said the extension of coronavirus restrictions announced on Monday is not in Dorset's best interests.

It was announced yesterday (Monday) that the final easing of lockdown restrictions would not take place on June 21 as initially hoped, but would be delayed for four weeks due to concerns over the rapid spread of the Indian (Delta) variant of Covid-19.

Following an announcement by Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the House of Commons, Mr Loder said he could not support the extension of restrictions.

He said: "Without some significant evidence to support the extension of lockdown restrictions, it is not in Dorset's interests to continue these restrictions any further and I therefore cannot vote in support of this extension if it comes to the house for a vote.

"We are going to have to live with this virus. We cannot go on penalising sensible and responsible people here in Dorset, especially those who are older and vaccinated and when the case rate is only 3.6 cases per 100,000 in the over 60s.

"As of last week, throughout Dorset, we have just one person who is poorly in hospital with Covid. It has almost been two months since anyone has died from Covid in Dorset.

"Public Health England is not talking about the real health issues that we experience such as making sure that older people can see their doctor in person if they need to, get access to dentists, get progress with routine operations and make sure we get people back to daily life."

Coronavirus case numbers across Dorset more than doubled over the last week, although they still remain lower than many areas of England.

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