Tough Covid-19 restrictions for London could cost Cornwall up to a quarter of its holiday bookings for Christmas.

The festive period is one of the county's busiest periods as visitors make the most of wide empty beaches and coastal walks.

And this year - while Cornwall is in tier 1 along with the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight - it is among the very few places that are still effectively open for business unless things change in the tier review on December 16.

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Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said: "London entering tier 3 will have an effect, though it is hard to tell yet as many of the suburbs to the west of London are still in Tier 2.

"I would estimate it could mean in the region of 10% to 25% plus cancellations.

"Traditionally Christmas and New Year are very important to the sector as it is as cash boost for businesses and this year we will see a significantly reduced contribution to the visitors economy and that will impact pubs, restaurants, accommodation and retail as well as the supply chain."

Essential guide to the new English tier system this Winter

The latest unemployment figures show that hospitality has been hardest hit by the pandemic with 297,000 job losses - accounting for a third of the job losses, followed by retail, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Robin Hutson, founder of The Pig Hotel chain which has a hotel in Cornwall and Devon among eight across the country, has been leading a petition for a Minister for Hospitality.

He tweeted on Monday, after the London tier 3 announcement, that the decision would account for the loss of 66% of its bookings over the festive season.

The tougher restrictions, which mean that residents in tier 3 areas cannot travel unless it is essential, also effectively shut down the capital's hospitality industry, closing hotels, bars, restaurants and theatres though retail can remain open.

Andy Jones, who owns Jones & Sons restaurant in Dalston, east London, has spoken about the impact the capital going into Tier 3 will have on the hospitality industry.

He said: “This week we had about £42,000 worth of bookings in the system already.”

Is it right to put London into tier 3? Have your say in the comments section below

“It’s a big restaurant, and when you’re stripping away that sort of money from people’s cash flow, when you take away the livelihoods of staff who have just joined me… there’s just a whole group of people left in the lurch.”

Pub giant Wetherspoon has announced it is slashing beer prices in areas of the South East going into tier 3 restrictions.

The company said that until final orders on Tuesday, all its pubs going into tier 3 in London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will be serving real ales at 99p a pint.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We would have to throw any unsold real ale away in those pubs moving to tier 3, so it makes sense that our customers can enjoy it at even greater value prices than normal in those pubs that will be affected.”

The rest of the UK will have to wait until Wednesday, December 16 to find out what tier they will move into from Saturday, December 19.

The Department of Health said decisions on tier levels are based on a number of factors, including case detection rates in all age groups and, in particular, among the over 60s.

How quickly case rates are rising or falling will also be taken into account, as will local pressure on the NHS, including current and projected capacity.

Whatever the outcome of Wednesday's review - the whole of England will enter into a different system for Christmas with distinct rules specifically in place to allow up to three households to meet over the festivities from December 23 to 27.

he number of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital on Friday – the most recent daily figures available – and the total number of patients in hospital and those on ventilators in each region of England, as of Monday, are as follows (previous week’s figure in brackets):

East of England – 134 admitted (106), 1,506 in hospital (1,149), 103 on ventilators (88)

London – 277 (170), 2,330 (1,822), 262 (244)

Midlands – 324 (356), 3,286 (3,109), 257 (262)

North East & Yorkshire – 238 (198), 2,483 (2,617), 145 (175)

North West – 139 (174), 2,325 (2,388), 161 (179)

South East – 235 (175), 2,118 (1,619), 143 (107)

South West – 103 (69), 1,005 (912), 56 (54)