Large families in Bolton may not be able to spend Christmas Day together if coronavirus restrictions are still in place, a Cabinet minister has warned.

Under tier 3 rules, you must not socialise with anybody indoors unless you live with them or they are part of your support or childcare bubble.

People from Bolton should also avoid staying overnight in another part of the UK and visitors from elsewhere should avoid staying overnight in Bolton

Environment Secretary George Eustice's remarks come amid growing concerns that restrictions will lead to many families spending Christmas apart, after an already challenging year.

He did warn that it is premature to say how lockdowns will affect the festive period, but he told LBC that restrictions could impact celebrations. 

Mr Eustice said: “Obviously if we do need to have restrictions in place, and prevent families from coming together in large gatherings, if that’s necessary to control the virus that’s what we’ll have to do.”

Asked on Times Radio if families from different tiers would be able to spend Christmas together, he added this is “not provided for currently”.

Mr Eustice rejected demands from the Liberal Democrats to plan coronavirus restrictions for the festive period now.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has called for four-nation Covid planning in relation to Christmas, warning that people face confusion and complexity over potential restrictions.

Mr Eustice told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is a rapidly developing situation and we are making judgments all the time about what restrictions might be needed and what’s appropriate to have as restrictions in a particular area.

“We should set our guidelines, not as the Lib Dems say, based on Christmas is coming, we should set our guidelines based on the epidemiology of this virus and follow the science and respond to emerging situations in a proportionate way.”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the Government’s failure to introduce a circuit-break lockdown over the school half-term has “put Christmas at risk” and urged ministers to “do something quickly to save Christmas”.

Speaking on Times Radio, he said Government sources are planning for a Tier 3 lockdown in most areas of the country “at some point in November”, which he expects will continue through the festive period.

Asked if he thought families would be able to meet in groups of more than six, the Labour MP said: “That’s in the hands of all of us, and in the hands of the decisions it (the Government) makes in the next week or so about what they’re going to do to get on top of this virus.

“I think because they’ve missed this window of opportunity over the half-term, I’m worried now that what we’ll see is deeper, more drastic lockdown action over November and December, which sadly probably does put Christmas at risk.

“The Government have got to do something quickly to save Christmas for everybody, because we want people to have a family Christmas, and I think it would be awful if people didn’t have that.”