BORIS Johnson announced on Tuesday that he would not introduce any further coronavirus restrictions in England before Christmas.

He warned, however, that additional measures might be necessary from as early as next week.

Johnson warned that Omicron was spreading “with a speed unlike anything we’ve seen before” and that the situation remained “extremely difficult.”

But he also said that further restrictions were not required immediately.

In response to the spread of the Omicron variant, the Scottish government has decided to apply restrictions on public gatherings, and cancelled the large New Year’s Eve celebrations in Edinburgh.

These follow similar restrictions across the continent, and Wales has announced restrictions from December 26, including a return of the ‘rule of six’ in hospitality settings.

Despite the decision not to impose restrictions from Mr Johnson, uncertainty is spreading across the country, leading to fewer shoppers on high streets and mass cancellations in the hospitality sector.

And after the difficult past 18 months, this Christmas was crucial for the continuing recovery of many small businesses.

Brothers Mustafa and Ibrahim Koc run the Anatolia restaurant on Abbey Street in Carlisle. Usually a busy time of the year for them, trade is down and people are cancelling.

“In the last three weeks we have lost bookings and had a few cancellations,” said Mustafa.

“We expect it to be busier at this time of the year.“

The impact of Omicron has led the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to introduce a business support package. This will include:

• One-off grants of up to £6,000 per premise for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England, plus more than £100 million of discretionary funding available for local authorities to support other businesses.

• The UK Government will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers across the UK

The Cumbria Chamber of Commerce said: “Clearly town and city centre businesses are concerned about the potential for announcements to cause concern among the public more widely about being in potentially busy environments.

“And everyone is concerned that the guidance will become more restrictive. It’s been a difficult, almost two years now, for many businesses.

"Many have built up significant debt and another lockdown of any significance is likely to push more businesses over the edge.”