Britain is on the brink of a two-week "circuit breaker lockdown" in Liverpool due to surging coronavirus cases, it has been reported.
The Government is ready to impose the new short-term comprehensive shutdown of the northern city as it continues its efforts to curb the pandemic in areas with the worst infection rates.
Mayor Joe Anderson said the measure was "only a matter of days" away after 1,306 cases in seven days, more than double the previous week's rate.
The new restrictions would see households banned from mixing indoors, as well as the closure of pubs and restaurants.
"For me, it is only a matter of time because the virus isn’t able to be controlled in the city with the restrictions we have now,” Mr Anderson told The Telegraph.
"We need a circuit breaker or stricter lockdown to try to stop the virus spreading."
The mayor added if the city sees the "severest measures of lockdown now" the increase may be under control by the end of October so Christmas can bring some normality.
Mr Anderson added he was in talks with senior government figures about the potential lockdown, something which has been confirmed to the Telegraph by a Downing Street source.
"We are keeping a very close eye on it and if there is somewhere that additional measures are brought in it is likely to be in that area," they said.
However, it comes as World Health Organisation special envoy on coronavirus David Nabarro warned against imposing stricter rules to control behaviour, arguing people must support the restrictions needed to slow the spread.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This war, and I think it's reasonable to call it a war, against this virus, which is going to go on for the foreseeable future, is not going to be won by creating tougher and tougher rules that attempt to control people's behaviour.
"The only way that we will come out ahead of this virus is if we're all able to do the right thing in the right place at the right time because we choose to do it.
"I think we will get the point, I just hope that it doesn't require a lot more people to end up in hospital and dying for us all to get the point, that all of us, all of us, have to be rigorous about physical distance, wearing masks, hygiene, isolating when we're sick and protecting those who are most vulnerable."
Prof Andrew Hayward, a professor of epidemiology at University College London and Sage advisor, on the other hand, argued increased restrictions are necessary.