DIVIDED BY COVID
A VILLAGE that lies on the border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire has seen its community divided as residents only a few feet apart are living under very different sets of rules.
The border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire runs straight down the middle of Portland Road in the village of Langwith.
Its positioning means residents on the east side are in Derbyshire under Tier 1 restrictions, while those on the west side are in Nottinghamshire under Tier 2.
According to latest guidelines, people to the west of the road can meet socially in groups of six indoors while to the east people are prohibited from socialising indoors with anyone outside their household or support bubble.
This is despite the fact their properties sit just 25ft apart.
Dave Mather, 69, owns a threebedroom terraced house on the Derbyshire side of Portland Road in Langwith. He said:
“The whole thing is absolutely crazy - Tier 1 ends at my garden wall. I can go out of my front door and walk four or five feet then find myself in a different tier, it’s very odd.
“I have friends who live across the street from me that
I can’t see anymore, I just have to shout to them from over here. Considering we live in the same village on the same street, I don’t see how that makes any sense. The village has been divided in two, that’s not right. The whole thing is silly.”
Grandad-of-three Dave has lived in Langwith his whole life and in the same house for 43 years.
He said he had “never seen anything” like what’s happening now and has called for a change in the way the tier system is implemented. The retired miner said: “The people across the road should be considered Derbyshire and therefore in the same tier as us. It’s quite a simple fix that would make life easier for everyone.”
The village was split in two last week when Nottinghamshire was plunged into Tier 2, with the city recording the highest coronavirus rates in the country. Meanwhile Derbyshire remains in Tier 1. Parish councillor Kath Sharpe, 72, has slammed the implementation of restrictions and called for “common sense” to be applied.
She said: “The situation is bizarre. We should have been looked at as a community as opposed to two separate groups. We’re a tiny little rural village that has found ourselves stuck in the middle.
“The people here don’t want or
deserve to be split up like this, everyone has behaved impeccably throughout the pandemic.”
Dawn Wakeling, 50, lives on the Derbyshire side of the street and says the area is “one village”.
She said: “It doesn’t event matter where the border is, we all class ourselves as one village. Luckily the shops are on the Derbyshire side of the village so for me that’s OK, and it’s fine unless people want to go over to Warsop or Worksop. I’ve got parents over on the Notts side and I’m still going to see them.”
Alvery Panter, 54, lives on the Nottinghamshire side of the street. She said: “It is really confusing, but people can’t do anything about it. There are no shops on this side so we have to go over to the Derbyshire side.”
Sophie Bray, 23, recently bought a house on the Nottinghamshire side and says she too thinks it is “confusing”.
“I have noticed more people on the street wearing masks and it is not as casual as it once was before. I imagine it’s very confusing for people with kids in terms of their childcare, because you don’t fully know what rules are in place and in what part of the village.”
Darren Neville, 59, lives on the Derbyshire side and says he “can’t understand” why the village has been divided.
He said:“It just doesn’t really make sense why you’d have the same street under two different councils and counties. I can’t understand at all why that’s happened, it just adds to the problems for people on the street. I know of a lot of families who live around here and on opposite sides of that road. I feel sorry for them if it affects childcare or care in general.”
According to the tier system guidelines, areas in Tier 1 must abide by the same rules previously enforced across the country. People cannot meet in groups of more than six unless they’re part of a larger household or in a support bubble.
Those living under Tier 2 restrictions are prohibited from meeting indoors socially with people they do not live with, including in pubs and restaurants. They can meet friends and family outside, but no more than six people at a time are allowed to congregate.
As in Tier 1, people in support bubbles can continue to see each other.
The situation is bizarre. We should have been looked at as a community as opposed to two separate groups.
Kath Sharpe