tonight at ten, the north—east of england is facing even tougher restrictions following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. the region, with some two million people, has already been under restrictions for the past ten days, but ministers say more action is needed. we do not take these steps lightly, but we must take them and take them now, because we know that swift action is more likely to bring the virus under control. the new measures mean it would be unlawful for people to meet in a pub or restaurant with anyone outside their household. we'll also have the latest on growing demands to review the 10pm closure times for restaurants, bars and pubs. also tonight... food deliveries for students who are self—isolating — some a0 universities have now reported cases of coronavirus.

on the eve of the first televised debate in the us presidential election, donald trump dismisses new allegations about his tax affairs. and we report on the plight of families with relatives in care homes, many with dementia, and the heavy burden imposed by the pandemic. and coming up in sport on bbc news, all the goals from anfield as the champions liverpool take on arsenal in the premier league. good evening. some two million people in the north—east of england are facing even tougher restrictions following a sharp rise in the number of new cases of coronavirus. the health secretary matt hancock announced that mixing

between households in any indoor setting, which people are currently advised to avoid, will be made illegal from wednesday. the region has already been under restrictions for the past 10 days, covering a wide area which includes newcastle, northumberland, gateshead, north tyneside, south tyneside, sunderland, and county durham. the new measures mean it would be unlawful for people to meet in places like pubs or restaurants with anyone outside their household. for the latest, we canjoin our north of england correspondent fiona trott in newcastle. that's right, from wednesday you could be fined at least £100. it's tough for the people who live here and it's tough for the local economy too. it was already struggling to adjust to the curfew over the past week. buyers have had to close and

even today, one manager told us he has had to make people redundant. enjoying a drink after work, and enjoying it while they can. from wednesday, jordan and his friend will be banned from having a beer together. for many in the city, it's ha rd to together. for many in the city, it's hard to swallow. i really am torn, because i want to try and help the nation. but if this goes on for a longer period of time, more people will suffer in the long run. but at the same time, it is hard and people do need that social aspect. for my own mental health, i need that. their lives are changing yet again. here in newcastle and in six other council areas, they were advised not to meet at venues outside the home. from wednesday, it is banned. we will introduce legal restrictions on indoor mixing between households in any setting. mr speaker, we do not ta ke any setting. mr speaker, we do not take these steps lightly, but we must take them and take them now.

the city makes over £300 million a year from the night—time economy. it was struggling to adjust to a cu rfew, was struggling to adjust to a curfew, and the council said today's announcement came without warning. this announcement has been made without any notice whatsoever to either us as local authorities or to oui’ either us as local authorities or to our local police. that is deeply worrying when it comes to making sure that we are all working together here. financial support to help with enforcement is set to be announced by central government. people here say they will stick to the rules, but it's hard. people here say they will stick to the rules, but it's hardlj people here say they will stick to the rules, but it's hard. i think it's a bit contradictory. i have literally been at work today and i have stood with every man and his dog at work, so close to them. and i can't go and stand in my dad's back garden. it doesn't make much sense to me. people are dying, so it's worth sacrificing a couple of nights in the pub, than i am not that fussed, to be honest. this city is famous for its nightlife, but all that has been put on hold. the challenge now is to keep people safe

and protect the local economy too. fiona trott, bbc news, newcastle. there needs to be an "urgent review" of the 10pm closure times for restaurants and pubs, according to greater manchester's mayor, andy burnham. he said the measure had led to people gathering in homes and that supermarkets were "packed to the rafters" selling drink once the bars had closed. downing street says the policy in england will be kept under review, as our health editor hugh pym reports. scenes like these in york on saturday night have raised questions about the new 10pm closing time for pubs, bars and restaurants. people gathered on the streets after they had to leave local venues. there we re had to leave local venues. there were also crowds in other cities after the earlier closing time here in central london. and here in

liverpool, and there have been calls for the curfew to be reviewed after reports of people gathering in off—licences to buy alcohol. reports of people gathering in off-licences to buy alcohol. the big problem with it as far as i'm concerned is that it creates an incentive for more social gatherings in the home. and what we are told by the experts is that that is the big reason, the big place where more transmission of the virus takes place. but downing street said the measure it struck the right balance between protecting the public and allowing pubs and restaurants to continue trading. there is also a debate on new measures required to combat the virus. middlesbrough is not one of the community is covered by extra restrictions, but some feel they are now essential. we are probably a day away from being certain we will go to government and ask them for more restrictions. we wa nt to ask them for more restrictions. we want to limit, subject to more info, the ability of people to visit other people's homes. three more areas in wales, neath port talbot, torfaen

and the vale of glamorgan have this evening joined the list of areas facing tougher rules. people can't meet at the hassle indoors and are not able to enter or leave the areas without good reason is —— people cannot meet other households indoors. the highest case numbers according to latest data are in burnley, with 270 per 100,000 population, knowsley with 265, liverpool with 252 and newcastle, with 246 per 100,000. london's highest infection rates are a lot lower, with redbridge at 68 and barking and dagenham with 58 per 100,000. london councils have now been designated areas of concern, on a watch list drawn up by public health officials. but some council leaders feel that the published infection numbers understate the true position. in the borough of hammersmith and fulham, they were running mobile pop—up testing

centres, but these had to stop when the units were moved to other areas. now the council is concerned that there are rising numbers of undetected cases. the government keeps saying there's enough testing for everybody. that isn't our experience here. people who want to get tests can't get online to book them and as a result, i am sure we have people walking around our borough and all parts of london who are carrying the virus and potentially a danger to others, and we just potentially a danger to others, and wejust don't potentially a danger to others, and we just don't know about it. there are now calls from some local authorities in the capital for the government to impose the same restrictions already in place elsewhere in the country. hugh pym, bbc news. the prime minister has said for months that local strategies are the best way to deal with local outbreaks of coronavirus but what's the latest evidence on how effective they are? 0ur medical editor fergus walsh has been examining how well the stratedy has worked so far since the pandemic took hold. at first glance, life may look back to normal in leicester.

but people here haven't been able to meet inside each other‘s homes since march, unless they're part of a support bubble. you can only see friends in outdoor cafes, parks, or other public spaces. leicester was the first place in the uk to introduce local restrictions at the end ofjune, after a sharp rise in cases. they were tough — people were told to stay at home and only travel if it was vital. nonessential shops were shut for around a month. public health officials started going door—to—door doing testing. it worked. cases fell by half in the coming weeks and, in early august, restaurants, pubs and hairdressers reopened, about a month after the rest of england. and, in early september, swimming pools and gyms reopened. but, in the past few weeks, cases have started to rise sharply again. there was a small increase

in hospital admissions in leicester in june, but, mostly, the trend has been downward. cases have stopped falling, but are still way below the peak in april. very concerned that things are going the wrong way, and that those case numbers, we definitely need to get back down. i think to some extent pleased at the moment that we're still not seeing that result in hospital admissions, but fearful that that's going to come. i think that is the key bit for me, is how do we protect those who are most vulnerable to admissions? caerphilly was the first local authority in wales to be placed under extra measures, from the 8th of september. people can't enter or leave the county without a reasonable excuse and can't meeet friends indoors. early indications are the restrictions are working, with cases falling sharply. across the uk, at least 16 million people are subject to extra restrictions. that's just under one in four of the total population.

the uk restrictions are not yet as drastic as those taken in france's second city, marseille. all restaurants and bars were ordered to close at the weekend following a surge in cases and hospital admissions. businesses say it's a catastrophe. the dilemma, there and here, is how to control covid without wrecking the economy. fergus walsh, bbc news. and hugh is here. big questions in two areas. we are talking about a local strategy such as in the north—east of england and as in the north—east of england and a question about whether that kind of thing could be imposed elsewhere, and then we are talking about more widespread strategies such as the cu rfew widespread strategies such as the curfew on buyers at 10pm and whether thatis curfew on buyers at 10pm and whether that is actually working. can you shed light on those for us?‘ that is actually working. can you shed light on those for us? , there are many threads to this. there are the debates on local restrictions with these big moves the north—east of england barring any form of

household contacting any indoor venue. that is now being looked at asa venue. that is now being looked at as a possibility for the north west of england, with a particular focus on merseyside. and as we have heard, you have got council leaders calling for more restrictions on their areas. i'm told with london, despite calls for intervention there, probably nothing will happen in the days ahead. the government at westminster will look for more data. then you have got the national issue of the curfew on pubs, bars and restau ra nts of the curfew on pubs, bars and restaurants at 10pm and the scenes of people at the weekend gathering in crowds outside. the mayor of greater manchester andy burnham now says he doesn't think that is working on its own and it needs a 9pm bar on the sale of alcohol in off—licences. but the government has said or england that it will not be further reviewed. and of course, there is a debate in westminster about the extent to which the state should be intervening in people's lives. but wherever that debate goes, lives. but wherever that debate o lives. but wherever that debate goes, we have certainly seen today that there are a lot more interventions being put in place. hugh pym, our health editor.

some 40 universities in the united kingdom have now reported cases of coronavirus, forcing thousands of students to self—isolate as the new term begins. many students are demanding to know why they were encouraged to leave home and pay for accommodation when much of the teaching is being done online. aberystwyth university is the latest to suspend face—to—face teaching because of the pandemic. after a wave of complaints, the scottish government has now changed its guidance to allow students to return home if they wish, although the entire household would then have to isolate for 14 days. 0ur education correspondent danjohnson reports from manchester. day four of this freshers' lockdown, and the fun is running low, along with the food. and behind the fences are the young hopes of what student life should have been. we were sent here with the promise of, "oh, yeah, you guys can have a bit of normal uni experience."

and then within two weeks, they were like, "no, you can't." so we were kind of sold a false dream. this is the start to term nobody wanted, everyone could see coming. so the government sent thousands and thousands of students together to live in close proximity where they're going to share the same facilities, they're going to use the same kind of areas. so if you kind of expect to send all those people back and then not to have that kind of a spike, either that's just incompetence or poor planning. each university should have their own testing facility, and you could reduce the cases and isolate individual houses as well. our house had no symptoms and no one needed to get a test, but we're stuck in here now. the university says it will cover costs for the next fortnight. were put before welfare. what do you say to those who came here on the promise of at least some face—to—face learning, and now find themselves locked up, learning online, feeling like they've been misled and are now trapped? well, i don't see the students as having been misled

or trapped, actually. like many people who are having to self—isolate, it's for two weeks. these students are on three—, sometimes four—year courses. it's a short part of their study. it's worth saying student life is carrying on here to some degree. people are using the library, keeping social distance, of course, but with cases being reported at other universities, there will be more disruption. at the university of glasgow, supplies are arriving, and there's more food on hand. alongside deliveries, parents have been helping make decisions about the future. we talked about whether to defer studies until next year, but i think she's decided, is it going to be any better next year? we might as welljust carry on. in edinburgh, molly's been isolating, but today got the all clear. they seem to be quite all right with sending us here and changing one household around to get us into halls, but when it comes to letting us go home, it's a huge problem to change which household you're in.

if you decide you absolutely have to move to your family home to self—isolate, you should avoid using public transport. and crucially, the other members of your new household will have to self—isolate for 14 days. in belfast, around 100 are isolating after 30 tested positive at queens university. and in wales, aberystwyth is the latest to suspend face—to—face teaching. there's more evidence today this age group's hit hardest by the pandemic. it was difficult getting here, but there's no easy time ahead. danjohnson, bbc news, manchester. let's look at the latest government figures. there were 4,044 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, somewhat lower than the numbers at the end of last week. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the past week is 5,770. 13 deaths were reported, that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. on average in the past week,

30 deaths were announced every day. that takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 42,001. the partner of matt ratana, the metropolitan police sergeant killed on duty last week, has paid tribute to him, describing him as "her gentle giant". police are continuing to search farmland in surrey which is believed to be connected to the murder. mr ratana died in hospital after being shot by a handcuffed suspect at a police custody facility. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. this was sergeant matt ratana receiving a long and good service medal from the head of his force three years ago. since he was shot dead in the croydon custody centre in the early hours of friday, tributes have poured in. and this afternoon came these words from his grieving partner, su bushby. "i had the pleasure of sharing five years of my life

with this lovely man. my gentle giant, with his infectious smile and big heart. i think of him with tenderness and love. matt will always be in my head and in my heart." 0rder, order. i'm sure all honourable members will wish tojoin me in paying our respects to police sergeant matt ratana, who was killed in the course of duty on friday. this afternoon, there was a minute's silence in parliament for the custody sergeant, originally from new zealand. he's been remembered for almost 30 years' service to policing, but also for the huge contribution he made to grassroots rugby as a coach and mentor of young players. in her statement, his partner said, "i know matt touched many, many people's lives with his friendliness, patience, kindness, enthusiasm and caring ways." the man suspected of shooting sergeant ratana, louis de zoysa, is still in a critical condition in hospital.

a school friend has told the bbc that he had a weird obsession with guns and used to watch extremely violent videos in the sixth form. in his school leaving book, his classmates described him as "good with weapons". daniel sandford, bbc news. 0n the eve of the first televised debate in the us presidential election, donald trump has been dealing with a wave of new allegations about his tax affairs. the new york times says it has documents which show the president paid just $750 in federal income in 2016, the year he was elected president, and the same again in 2017, his first year in the white house. he is said to have paid no income tax at all in ten of the previous 15 years. president trump said is was yet another example of "fa ke news". let's go live to cleveland, ohio, where tomorrow's debate will he held, and join our north america editor,

jon sopel. in us presidential elections, there isa in us presidential elections, there is a thing called the october surprise, the event that comes out of the blue and upends things. well, it's arrived a few days early. as well as the income tax disclosures, it seems according to the new york times that donald trump has personal debts of $400 million, and as well as that, he wrote off against tax 70,000 for the payment of hairdressers and head of tv appearances. willjoe biden seek to ta ke appearances. willjoe biden seek to take advantage of it? you bet he will. there's nothing quite like it. 0ne—to—one combat, the red and blue corners, two fighters looking to land a knockout blow. and donald trump's taxes and what he did and didn't pay have opened up again as a line of attack. 0n the eve of this televised debate, his tax return is once again a burning issue. it's totally fake news. made up, fake. maybe he's not as rich as he says. four years ago, hillary clinton thought she had him pinned

down on this very topic. or maybe he doesn't want the american people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he has paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino licence, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. that makes me smart. and when you're in the ring, do you stay cool under pressure or do you start to sweat under the lights? back in 1960 john f kennedy was expected to take a pounding from richard nixon. instead, jfk was unfazed and it was nixon who ended up on the ropes. when you're in a race, the only way to stay ahead is to move ahead. boxing is governed by the queensbury rules. no punching below the belt, no holding, break when i say break. but for the past four years, donald trump is played by no rule book. it's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law

in our country. because you would be in jail. secretary clinton... look at how he followed hillary clinton around the room, almost stalking her. donald trump revels in the image of prizefighter. he controversially tweeted this mock video of him beating up a critical news network. it has just got worse with this gentleman. i use the term loosely. joe biden at the start of this year looked as though his best days were behind him, but his corner are confident and bullish that he'll go the distance. the two people who will be lacing up their gloves on tuesday have a combined age of 151 years. probably neither will float like a butterfly nor sting like a bee, but it's likely to be brutal and compelling. jon sopel, bbc news, cleveland, ohio.

a bbc investigation has found that criminals are setting up fake companies on a big scale and successfully applying for emergency government loans. the loans were offered to small companies to keep them afloat during the pandemic, but the scheme is being abused by criminals who know that limited checks are made on new applicants. the taxpayer stands to lose millions of pounds. 0ur correspondent angus crawford has the story. it is a bounceback loan application that's being approved for £50,000. taxpayers' money meant for struggling firms. here is a second, here is a third, here is a fourth and here is a fifth. that is a quarter of a million pounds. this investigator has infiltrated a criminal gang online they are using stolen identities and fake companies to cash in on government backed loans. he's called the company tellings

homemade furniture services and lloyds are writing to him and saying we are pleased to offer you a loan, it is for an individual called mark telling and he has become a victim. meet mark telling, the real mark telling. he does not have a furniture business, he did not apply for the loan. he and his partner natasha saving to buy a house cannot quite believe it. you have apparently applied for a bounceback loan of £50,000. 50,000. 50,000? that's crazy. this is like a covid—19 loan? yes, it is meant to help struggling businesses. this is going to worry us to death. what is happening? the bounce back loan scheme is designed to support uk smaller businesses that have been adversely affected by the coronavirus outbreak...

as covid—19 shut down the economy, the government announced a rescue plan for small firms, a loan of up to £50,000, simple to apply for, paid out within in a day. but see this, the number of new firms being registered at companies house, riding high until covid—19 hit and then locked — the economy falls off a cliff and new registrations collapse. but then watch. today we announced a brand—new loan scheme... when rishi sunak announces the bounce back loan scheme, new registrations take off to a record 21,000 in a single week. we don't know how many of those new companies might be fake or how many actually applied for a loan. but we do have evidence of applications to multiple different banks from a number of brand—new completely bogus firms. the rules are clear.

only companies already trading on the 1st of march this year can apply for bounceback loans, but we had seen evidence of scores of firms only created in the last couple of months making applications on an industrial scale. what we do not know is how well those applicatons are being checked. i think a child could do it. it's as easy as just going to their website and filling out a form. it seems to be free money for the scammers. when we take into account there are hundreds possibly thousands of people also engaged in base it is going to cost us billions. everything we discovered has been handed to the authorities. the treasury says banks are undertaking appropriate precautions against fraud and insists it will take criminal against the most serious cases. these people need to be stopped. mark and natasha and the british taxpayer all victims with no idea how much this fraud may

eventually cost them. angus crawford, bbc news. let's take a brief look at some of today's other news. the cabinet minister michael gove has said that parts of the controversial internal markets bill which the eu want removed "will remain in the bill". the bill overrides parts of the brexit deal signed last year, and ministers admit it breaks international law. speaking after a meeting in brussels in search of a trade deal with the eu, he described talks as constructive, but said there were areas where both sides were still "some distance apart". claudia webbe, the leicester east mp, has been suspended from the labour party after she was charged with harrassment. she is accused of one offence against a female between september 2018 and april this year. the mp said she was innocent of any wrongdoing. an additional 400,000 hectares of land in england will be protected to support the recovery of nature under government plans to protect

30% of land by 2030. national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty and other protected areas currently comprise 26% of land in england. boris johnson has signed up to a nature pledge, alongside leaders from 63 countries. the new leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey, has accused borisjohnson of failure and incompetence over his handling of the pandemic. in his first speech as leader of the party, sir ed talked about the need to promote the interests of carers, describing his own experience of caring for his mother when he was young and now caring for his disabled son. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. it's a struggle to be seen, and heard, when you're the leader of the liberal democrats these days, but ed davey arrived at his party's headquarters in london this morning hoping to make his mark. looking forward to it. addressing party members online, his tone was sombre, and he made clear social care

would be his priority. having looked after his mother — and now a disabled child — for him, he said, it's personal. it was easy caring for mum. i loved her. but it was also incredibly tough visiting her on a totally unsuitable dementia ward, in my school uniform, alone by her bedside when she died. he promised to be a voice for the country's carers. but beyond that, after a run of terrible election results, ed davey admitted the lib dems had lost touch. we can't fix this with a catchy new slogan, or by fighting the same battles in the same way. the answer is to listen to what people are really telling us, and to change. ed davey takes pride in his time in coalition government with the conservatives,

but overcoming the broken promise on tuition fees and a more recent anti—brexit stance, he admits will take time. are you in this for the long haul? i think it's the national level where the listening exercise by the party really needs to be focused on, for months and months and months. i don't think this is, there's no quick fix to this. but listening to voters can only last so long. elections are the ultimate test for any leader, especially one with a limited voice. jonathan blake, bbc news. restrictions on visiting people in care homes, particularly those residents with dementia, have been a very difficult challenge for many families. with the prospect of further restrictions on movement, there are growing calls for relatives of care home residents to be made a priority for testing so that they can continue to visit their loved ones. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt has been speaking to two families about the distress and difficulties they've faced. this is suzanne amos. her mother, doreen, has dementia

and is in a care home in kent.