Local lockdown rules are pretty confusing. Even the prime minister got them wrong. To ease some of the confusion, England could be heading towards a three-tier lockdown system as soon as next week, iNews has reported.

Areas with outbreaks would be classified as ‘tier one’ and would be subject to the tightest restrictions. It’s believed this could involve a strict social lockdown in order to curb transmission. If you think of it in terms of a traffic light system, this would be a red area.

‘Tier two’ (think of it as amber) would cover areas with less tough measures in place – such as a ban on households mixing, while ‘tier three’ (green-ish) would cover areas not under local lockdown.

A similar system is in operation in France at the moment. Their equivalent of tier three is the ‘Alert Zone’, where gatherings are limited to 30 people and local authorities can put in place further restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus.

The equivalent of tier two in France is the ‘High Alert Zone’, where there are restrictions on how many can attend sporting events, student parties are prohibited and bars must close at 10pm. Public gatherings are limited to 10 people, gyms are closed and people are advised to only have private gatherings with immediate family and loved ones.

In France’s equivalent of tier one – aka the ‘Critical Alert Zone’ – all the previously mentioned measures apply, with some extra measures in place. Restaurants and bars are closed completely, and venues open to the public that don’t have strict health procedures will close. Theatres and cinemas remain open, however.

There are seven different types of lockdown in force in England at the moment, with rules varying between regions, which is pretty confusing for people to keep on top of – politicians included. 

iNews reports that under the proposed system, people could type in their postcode to find out which tier their local area falls under. 

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own local lockdown rules in force.