Congleton went into effective lockdown last night following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's nationwide TV broadcast in which he laid down stringent new rules in a bid to battle coronavirus.

The lockdown was announced on the day the number of confirmed cases in the UK rose to more than 6,650, and the number of deaths reached 335, according to the latest figures available.

Basically Mr Johnson has outlined the following key things – but much of the detail remains to be filled in.

The brief outline of actions sanctioned last night were:

• All gatherings of more than two people in public were forbidden – meaning a ban on all social events, including weddings and baptisms
• Tens of thousands of non-essential shops were ordered to close
• Communal play and exercise areas inside parks will also be shut down, but not parks themselves
• Places of worship such as churches must also shut, except to host funerals
• Travel is also banned, unless it's essential to get to work that cannot be done from home, or get necessary food shopping or medical supplies
• And leaving the house for exercise such as a run or cycle ride is limited to once a day, on your own, or with one other member of your immediate family in your household.

Anyone breaking the rules will be fined at least £30 - and up to £1,000 if they fail to self-isolate.

However, we fully expect more information will be forthcoming from government and we will keep you informed.

And we also want to know what you are planning to do. What services are being provided to support local people?

And how you are all working together as a community, online and in your homes to get through this situation?

Not for decades have local communities required the level of togetherness they need today. The local media has a big role to play, keeping everyone fully informed. We are here for you.

If you have a story to tell, either load it to our website via the Nub It button or email [email protected]

You can also get information out through our Facebook page [L]https://www.facebook.com/congletonnubnews/[L+] here.

We are in this together and together we will emerge stronger in a united community.