MP Suzanne Webb is urging people in Stourbridge to think carefully about whether they should meet up at all this Christmas following the Prime Minister's decision to cancel festive meet ups for great swathes of the south east of England.

Many families had been looking forward to the five-day relaxation of coronavirus rules for the festive season which has now been reduced to just one day for people living in tier one, two and three areas - with those living in the south eat, including London, given a new tier four rating and told they cannot meet with other households at all this Christmas.

Libertarian campaigners have condemned the last-minute scrapping of Christmas for many but Stourbridge's Conservative MP Suzanne Webb has backed PM Boris Johnson's tougher new restrictions - introduced off the back of a new strain of coronavirus being detected which experts say is 70 per cent more transmissible than the original strain.

The PM confirmed in a press conference yesterday that the virus had mutated and was causing infections to spread rapidly in the south east and Ms Webb said afterwards: "The situation with the new strain of the virus in London and parts of the south east makes it clear to me how careful we must be in Stourbridge over the Christmas period.

"We are a small country and it cannot be long before this more infectious strain takes hold in other parts of it.

"I think it is right the Christmas restrictions are now limited to three households just for Christmas Day.

"But, again, I ask everyone to think carefully whether any household in Stourbridge should be meeting with another at all on December 25.

"This is going to be a very tough winter."

She urged people to "keep social distancing, washing hands and limiting contact" and added: "There is hope for the future but the mission right now must be to make sure the NHS is not overwhelmed and that lives are saved while the vaccine rollout continues."

Senior members of the Libertarian Party, however, have hit out over the last-minute changes - accusing the government of destroying freedoms and stealing Christmas from many..

The party's secretary, Martin Day, from Dudley, said "With my wife on a cancer ward for the next few weeks at least, having gone untreated in lockdown 1, it makes little difference to me what rules are imposed over Christmas.

“However, many families have scrimped and saved, some after months of furloughed wages and some after losing their jobs altogether.

“Plans made now have to be cancelled at the last minute. In Boris' own words, it would be "frankly ‘inhuman' to ban gatherings". It seems this government truly is.

“Boris, Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance are Three Unwise Men.”