The 'half Nottinghamshire half Derbyshire’ village split into two different tiers of Covid restrictions thanks to county boundry

The border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire runs straight down the middle of Portland Road in the quaint village of Langwith.

It's "bizarre" positioning means residents on the east side are in Derbyshire under tier one restrictions, while those on the west side are in Nottinghamshire under tier two.

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.

This is despite the fact their properties sit just 25ft apart.

Dave Mather, 69, owns a three bedroom terraced house on the Derbyshire side of Portland Road.

He said: "The whole thing is absolutely crazy - tier one 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."

Granddad-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 two after recording a seven-day infection rate of 830 per 100,000 people - the highest in the country.

Meanwhile Langwith remains in tier one, with only a handful of known cases.

Parish councillor Kath Sharpe, 72, has also 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.

"I'm personally not aware of any cases in the village.

"We're very tight knit community and people from both sides of the boundary socialise on a daily basis.

"Now they're being told that's not allowed and that they must stick to their side, it's not fair.

"The system should be implemented on a village by village basis."

Derbyshire Labour councillor Joan Dixon echoed Kath's feelings in a social media post last week.

She said: "There is some local amusement but there is also the sense that the rules are becoming very complicated and people are weary now.

"There are a lot of close-knit families in that community who will be affected."

According to the new tier system guidelines, areas in tier one must abide by the same rules previously enforced across the country.

People there cannot meet in groups of more than six unless they're part of a larger household of in a support bubble.

Those living under tier two restrictions are prohibited from meeting indoors socially with people they do not live with.

They can meet friends and family outside, but no more than six people at a time are allowed to congregate.

As in tier one, people in support bubbles can continue to see each other.