Richmond Council's leader has responded to the Prime Minister's announcement of a new lockdown for England.

The whole country faces 27 days of lockdown from Thursday, November 5 until Wednesday, December 2 if the plan is approved by parliament next week.

Cllr Gareth Roberts said: "We are waiting to hear the final details of the lockdown, so we are unsure at the moment what impact it will have upon the council services on which we all rely.

"Over the coming days both I and my fellow councillors will be working with the council team to ensure that the council's response is robust.

"We will be looking at re-establishing the Community Hub so that people can contact us and ask for assistance and, of course, we will be working with our voluntary sector partners to ensure that they have the resources they need to help the most vulnerable in our society."

Read more: We are going into new lockdown on Thursday

He added: "I know that this is a very worrying time for many of you. However, we have been through this before and we will get through it again. So please stay healthy and please do not worry. Thank you."

Shops and supermarkets will remain open. Mr Roberts said there is "no need for stockpiling or panic buying as we saw in the last lockdown".

Schools in Richmond will also stay open and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged parents to continue taking their children to school as normal.

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