Why is Slough in Tier 3?

Slough is the only town in Berkshire due to move into Tier 3 when lockdown ends.

The rest of the county has been placed in Tier 2, with many left questioning exactly why Slough has been singled out and put in the very high alert level.

The town's public health boss has revealed its dense population, intergenerational living and front-facing jobs are among the reasons the infection rate is not falling quick enough compared to other areas.

The infection rate is 321.0 per 100,000 people in the seven days to November 23, which has dropped from 357.1 in the previous seven days.

Reading has the second highest infection rate in Berkshire at 121.2 per 100,000, while neighbouring Windsor and Maidenhead sits at 124.2.

The rate of people testing positive for Covid-19 in Slough stood at 11.8 per cent – which is a 0.3 per cent decrease.

Sue Foley, public health consultant at Slough Borough Council, said: “We are quite densely populated – which makes social distancing more challenging and also around household mixing as well with lots of intergenerational living could be why our rates are not going down as much as other areas.”