Commenting on the news that South and East Ayrshire will be moved into level 4 Covid restrictions, South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has said this will be a massive blow for both local businesses and individuals.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement in Parliament on Tuesday, following a review of the level system.

South and East Ayrshire, along with a large swathe of the west of Scotland, will enter level 4 from Friday.

Colin Smyth said: “The news that these parts of Ayrshire are set to be moved into level 4 restrictions will be a huge blow for both businesses in the area and local people.

“Level 4 restrictions will close non essential shops, cafes, restaurants, gyms and much more which will mean a massive loss of business for the duration of the restrictions, however long they will be. This is coming at a time when many businesses are already struggling and when the crucial pre-Christmas shopping period would normally be getting underway.

“There is no doubt that people in Ayrshire are very much aware of the dangers of Covid-19. In the past few weeks, we’ve all seen that cases have been going up and this prompted the First Minister to bring in first the ‘circuit breaker’ and then the level system in the region.

“In Ayrshire, what the Government said was going to be a short, sharp shock to help slow infection rates on October 9 and was meant to last just over two weeks, has now turned into almost lockdown levels of restrictions.

“My fear is that the inevitable consequence of these rules, is that people will start to feel frustrated particularly given the fact that it’s very unclear what criteria the Government uses to determine what level of restrictions there are in each level. “