Bristol has been moved into 'Tier 1 plus', meaning its residents face new restrictions on their day-to-day lives.
The city's Director of Public Health confirmed the move to ITV, which says the move will mean tighter enforcement of rules, more local control over test and trace, a targeted focus on working adults (aged 30 - 60) - and the introduction of covid marshal patrols.
Bristol Live reporter Conor Gogarty said there appears to have been no previous mention of this tier elsewhere.
The news came as Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees was speaking to journalists amid concerns the city could be heading for Tier 2 restrictions as cases soared.
A Bristol City Council spokesperson said last night: "Bristol's rate of 340.7 new cases per 100,000 population [in the seven days up to October 23] is considerably higher than for the previous 7 days (227.9 per 100,000)."
The reported rate represents 1,579 positive cases reported for Bristol over the past seven days within a population of over 463,000 people.
"The trend is very clearly moving upwards and the Bristol rate remains above England rate of 222.8 per 100,000 and is now ranked 34th among 149 English local authorities.
"We are closely monitoring the situation with the NHS, police and the Department of Health and Social Care and will be taking further local targeted action to try to contain the spread of the virus, including whether moving out of Tier 1 is necessary."
