Council leaders in northern towns where coronavirus infections are spiking claim the Government is ignoring their pleas for local lockdowns to stay in place.
In Greater Manchester, the leaders in Bolton and Trafford do not want their towns to emerge from their respective lockdowns on Wednesday, fearing the number of new cases could soar even higher.
Cllr Andrew Western claimed Trafford's pleas for the restrictions to be extended were "completely ignored" and the Government decided to "overrule" the council despite the town's infection rate being three times higher than the national average.
Bolton has entered the Covid-19 "red alert" level with a 200% increase in cases, and asked the Government to keep the town in a local lockdown in a bid to halt a "sudden, concerning and unpredicted" spike, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Trafford's seven-day rate was 35.8 cases per 100,000 people as of last Friday, but hospital admissions for coronavirus were down.
The rate almost doubled from 19 cases despite a decrease in the number of people being tested, Mr Western confirmed.
Mr Western said he has sent a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock asking him to clarify the Government's "position and plan of action" regarding the restrictions in Trafford.
He said the council said last week it wanted local restrictions on household gatherings to be extended for at least two more weeks.
His letter states: "I am very disappointed to say that our representations to national government were completely ignored."
Mr Western wrote on Twitter : "I have today written to @MattHancock regarding the decision to overrule @TraffordCouncil on local restrictions and calling for an urgent action plan setting out how the Government will move forward given our increased rates of infection and % of positive tests.
"We need to understand how the Government will move forward given the current situation and the obvious political interference that has driven us to this position.
"It really should not have come to this. Better communication, decision making, and engagement with local government and this was entirely avoidable."
Earlier, he said: “We have heard absolutely nothing [from central government].
"I lead a council with a population of 230,000 people but government couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone to tell me we were being overruled, let alone explain why.”
The Government announced last Friday that Trafford would be released from Greater Manchester-wide lockdown restrictions from Wednesday.
The restrictions prohibit residents from meeting with other households indoors or in private gardens.
Eleanor Roaf, Trafford's director for public health, agreed with Cllr Western that it would be "premature" to release the area from the lockdown, at least until numbers were more stable.
It is expected that the special restrictions will be lifted in Trafford, Stockport and Bolton, which had asked for the coronavirus lockdown to remain in place following a sharp rise in cases.
A spike in cases has seen the town's infection rate rise to the highest in England alongside Oldham.
Bolton recorded 161 new cases in the week to Friday - more than double the previous week.
The increase means the town's infection rate rose to 56.4 cases per 100,000 people.
The Government puts any borough on red-alert - the highest level - when the rate goes above 50 cases per 100,000 people.
Mirror Online has contacted Downing Street and the Department for Health for comment.
