English village divided by Covid rules is now united in confusion

As a new lockdown begins, one town is reeling from conflicting local restrictions

A small wooden bridge joining the two sides of the seaside village of Staithes has seen residents places in different Covid restriction areas. Charlotte Graham for The National

For the past two weeks, villagers on the west side of Staithes, a quintessential English coastal retreat in North Yorkshire, could have been forgiven for feeling a certain sense of smugness.

The neighbourhood was placed in a ‘medium risk’ Covid category by the UK government – frustrating but relatively easy to manage – while their counterparts on the other side of a small wooden bridge were placed in a ‘high risk’ category.

Those on the ‘dark side’ as it was quickly nicknamed, were banned from meeting friends indoors and told to limit their journeys. They were set to move into even stricter measures when the national picture deteriorated.

After being caught in the crossfire as the government scrambled to find an answer to halting the coronavirus pandemic, both sides of the cobbled village now find themselves in the same boat, plunged into even stricter measures as England enters its second national lockdown.

Staithes is usually a magnet for international tourists seeking the homeplace of British adventurer Captain James Cook, famous for charting parts of Australia and New Zealand. However, the tourist flow has since dried up and the town has been spilt in two halves.

After being confused by the different rules for weeks, they are now experiencing a new-found solidarity, united in unhappiness.

“The national lockdown effectively bans us from crossing the bridge,” said local Colin Harrison, a retired solicitor. “It’s ludicrous.”

The anomaly occurred because of different infection rates in the council areas bordering the river known as the Roxby Beck.

One side is governed by the north-eastern Redcar and Cleveland Council, which was placed into tier two due to an acceleration in Covid deaths, whereas the other side of the bridge is ruled by Scarborough Borough Council in North Yorkshire and presently in the lesser risk tier one category.

Dealing with the divide has been baffling for some but under the second lockdown rules travel to different areas is banned, effectively isolating anyone on the Redcar side of the village.

Mr Harrison lives in the higher risk side and runs holiday home lets with properties on either side of the village.

As his wife returned from posting a letter just 20 metres away in the lower risk side, Mr Harrison explained the difficulties now facing them.

“When people arrive they just assume it is all one tier, but it isn’t,” said the 59 year old.

“A narrow beck has divided the village. I can’t go into the pub with my friends or to their homes, I can only see them outside. We were about to go into tier three and we’d have been prevented from crossing the bridge.

The move to unify lockdown rules has not brought a new sense of solidarity to the place.

“People on the other side of the village have jokingly told us to ‘get back to the dark side," said Mr Harrison.

“People living here have been adhering to the rules, regardless of how ridiculous it seems, but in the school half term holidays we witnessed hundreds of people descending on the village showing no regard for the rules or social distancing.”

Mr Harrison’s holiday homes were booked up and he has had to cancel all the guests due to the new rules.

John and Mary Phillips, who are both healthcare professionals, were visiting the area on holiday staying in a let on the tougher tier side.

“We are all set to leave on Thursday so we are not breaching the rules," said Mr Phillips. "We think when we come out of lockdown every area will be in tier three, if it had happened this week then we’d have faced an eight mile journey to the nearest shop from our holiday home instead of a 50-metre walk.”

Tim Barber runs Real Yorkshire Tours which takes international visitors on trips across North Yorkshire and to Staithes.

"Where I have visited Staithes on tours since the summer, I have found the situation with the village split into two crazy," he told The National.

“All my guests have commented about the confusion and arbitrary barriers where different rules apply and sympathise with the residents who are more likely to live in the higher restriction area of Staithes Beck.

“With my Good to Go risk assessment in place, I have not crossed the beck with clients, although in reality we would be no more at risk. Where I would normally walk with visitors to the lifeboat station and onto the breakwater, I have kept to the North Yorkshire side of the village.”

Steve Marsham had joked that the “virus doesn’t like bridges now” in reaction to the situation.

"As I come under Redcar and Cleveland council I'm in what they consider a high risk area as it covers Middlesbrough, the infection rates around me are minimal but I have to abide by a mad rule that as I'm in a certain council area I'm high risk," he told The National.

“If people cross the bridge from Cowbar, technically they cannot be granted the same freedoms as those that live in the side covered by a different council? Madness!”

With the second lockdown about to commence the villagers can briefly unite in the knowledge they all face the same rules and no one should cross the bridge.

But they know once it is lifted, life for some will remain even stricter.