THE Mayor of London has said the city is paying the price for the Tories' "continued failure" to tackle the pandemic.

Sadiq Khan spoke out after Prime Minister announced that from Sunday areas in the South East currently in Tier 3 will be moved into a new Tier 4 – effectively returning to the lockdown rules of November.

Non-essential shops, gyms, cinemas, hairdressers and bowling alleys will be forced to close for two weeks – while people will be restricted to meeting one other person from another household in an outdoor public space.

The rest of England will also see the Christmas “bubble” policy – allowing up to three household to meet up over the holiday period – severely curtailed, applying on Christmas Day only.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson announces Christmas plans cancelled for millions in England

Khan said 2020 will be London’s "toughest Christmas" since the war.

He added: “These further restrictions are a bitter blow for Londoners who were hoping to spend time with loved ones safely this Christmas, and for businesses who have already suffered so much this year.

“London faces its toughest Christmas since the war and the whole city will need to pull together to see us through this terrible period.

“Implementing restrictions is not enough – it is imperative that the Government vastly increase mass testing as a matter of urgency.

“Providing greater financial support to businesses and the self-employed, currently woefully insufficient, is crucial.

“The Government needs to put in place a compensation scheme for all lost income for the festive period, as well as a package of full pay for those who are required to self-isolate."

Khan went on: “Face coverings should be made mandatory in all busy outdoor public places.

“London and the country are paying the price for the Government’s continued failure to get a handle on the pandemic. This continued chaos and confusion could all have been avoided had the Government not made irresponsible promises to the public and raised expectations about the Christmas period.

“I urge Londoners to follow the new restrictions very closely, so that we can protect our NHS and prevent more tragic deaths. “It would be such a tragedy to lose even more people to this disease when the vaccine is now being rolled out across our city and those lives could be saved.”

Councillor Rachael Robathan, the leader of Westminster City Council, said: “On every level this is devastating: for our residents, for families who will now miss Christmas, for those young people who can’t leave, for those businesses now staring into the abyss after having had a last gasp at pre-Christmas sales snatched from them.

“The shock waves of this are going to jolt through every part of Westminster.

“This is an absolute tragedy for everyone who had worked so hard to revitalise our West End and fan the embers of recovery for our City. But this is now a pan-London emergency and I am talking to central and local Government leaders as part of our coordinated response.

“Westminster City Council’s priority is to help our residents and businesses get through the immediate impact and what faces us over the coming weeks.”

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said the hospitality sector had “lost all confidence” in the Government strategy for tackling Covid-19.

He said: “The unrelenting closing and reopening of businesses is costing owners hundreds of thousands of pounds, and coupled with the erratic decision-making around restrictions, is rapidly destroying the ability of the sector to bounce back.

“Thousands of businesses and employees have supported the Government’s public health campaign against Covid, creating safe, regulated environments for people to socialise. This financial burden and commitment has been recognised only in lip-service, with insubstantial support measures to repay confidence in the sector.

“There is disbelief and anger amongst the sector that the Government did not foresee the impact of transmissions by keeping retail, education and other sectors open during such a delicate period within the crisis.

“If the Prime Minister wants the hardest-hit sectors to continue to support the Government in its public health strategy against Covid, then he must compensate the businesses fully for their losses, and deliver a robust exit strategy to regain industry confidence.”