Tough new lockdown measures - banning all forms of social mixing between households - are set to be introduced in parts of Lancashire.
There are severe worries over the spread coronavirus in certain areas of the county, LancsLive reports.
Currently, there are four Lancashire areas - Hyndburn, Preston, Burnley, and Blackburn with Darwen - in the 10 worst affected areas in England.
On Wednesday (September 16) the county saw its largest daily rise in new cases yet, with a further 250 people confirmed to have the virus
Stricter restrictions now look inevitable for the county, especially with new measures coming in to the north east of England, which has a significantly lower infection rate that many areas of Lancashire.
It is understood Lancashire leaders have called for the hovernment to bring in restrictions across Blackburn with Darwen, Pendle, Burnley, Rossendale, and Hyndburn.
These restrictions call for 'no mixing at all with other households' in any setting, as well as using public transport for essential journeys only, a senior government source has told LancsLive.
The move is 'less severe than Bolton', they added, with no plans currently in place to bring in 10pm curfews for bars, pubs, and restaurants.
It is also understood Lancashire's coronavirus response team is in the process of establishing its own test and trace system as the virus spreads further across the county.
As of now, the situation with Preston remains unsure. Currently, its infection rate is the fourth worst in all of England with 125.8 new cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to September 13.
There has been disagreement over the approach taken in the latest request for Lancashire, with certain council officials in problem areas resisting stricter measures.
LancsLive also understands there were movements last week to bring Burnley and Hyndburn back under local restrictions. But the attempt was greeted with huge resistance, with it happening just a week after the boroughs were removed from them.
There has also been ongoing unrest over how quick action is taken to bring in measures, compared to the length of time there is to remove them.
"We are quite quick to move to these measures but not as speedy to move out of them," a government source told LancsLive.
They said it is 'quite unlikely' the government will not agree with Lancashire's request for further intervention.
In August, Health Secretary Matt Hancock placed Preston into local lockdown measures after the Lancashire Resilience Forum's requested the government to do so.
An official announcement on new rules is expected to be made on Friday (September 18), with the Department of Health setting out the rules across Lancashire and other areas of the North West, including Merseyside.
