In a statement to the House of Commons earlier today (8 September), the Health Secretary also told MPs the Government would be introducing a late-night restriction on operating hours, which will require all venues in the town to close between 10pm and 5am.
Hancock told MPs that Bolton had seen a 'significant rise' in Coronavirus cases, and now had the highest rate of infection in the country with 120 cases per 100,000 people.
He said: “I must therefore tell that House that, working with the local council, we’re taking further local action. The rise in cases in Bolton is partly due to socialising by people in their 20s and 30s, we know this from contact tracing.
“And through our contacting tracing system we’ve identified a number of pubs at which the virus has spread significantly.
“We’re therefore taking the following action in Bolton starting immediately. We will restrict all hospitality to takeaways-only and we’ll introduce a late-night restriction of operating hours which will mean all venues will be required to close from 10pm to 5am.
“We’ll introduce urgently further measures that put the current guidance that people cannot socialise outside their household into law.”
This marks the first example of restaurants and pubs in England being ordered to re-close their eat-in facilities since the Government lifted its lockdown order on the hospitality sector on 4 July.
Hospitality venues in Leicester were at the time ordered to remain closed beyond 4 July as a result of the Government's decision to extend the city's lockdown, and were eventually granted permission to reopen almost a month later on 3 August.