THE next few weeks will be crucial in determining whether coronavirus restrictions in England can be lifted next month, experts have said.

Current data suggests that although hospital admissions are rising in some parts of the country affected by the Indian variant, overall admissions remain broadly flat.

Some experts on Friday argued that restrictions should remain in place until more of the population have received both vaccine doses, with Professor Christina Pagel, from University College London and a member of Independent Sage, saying reopening should be delayed for a few more months.

But the chief executive of industry body UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, said it was “absolutely critical” that the remainder of the hospitality sector is allowed to unlock on June 21.

However, businesses in Darlington have urged caution.

Tori Gill, who owns her own business and works on the town's Love Darlo campaign, said: "I work with a lot of hospitality industries and although it would be amazing to say goodbye to all the restrictions which are in place, the general feeling is that if lockdown isn't lifted next month and people have to continue as it is for a few more weeks/months, it's far better to do that and be safe and keep numbers low than to have another lockdown in a few months.

"Another lockdown would just be devastating for everyone."

Echoing the sentiment, Nick Thexton, who own's Stable Hearth, in Duke Street, said: "It's important to get up and going but my concern is in September we did it too quickly and ended up going into lockdown.

"I've heard medical experts saying a word of caution. We've been burnt once by opening too early. If we need to wait another month to save another lockdown we should wait."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on Thursday he “didn’t see anything currently in the data” to divert from the June reopening target, adding: “But we may need to wait.”

Data for England published on Friday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows an estimated one in 1,120 people in private households had Covid-19 in the week to May 22 – broadly unchanged from one in 1,110 in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the reproduction number – the R value – for England is 1 to 1.1, compared to 0.9 and 1.1 the previous week.

Trade body UKHospitality said the end of all social restrictions this summer is critical to get the restaurant industry "off life support", as revenue is still well below pre-pandemic levels.

In County Durham, diners spent 51 per cent more in the seven days to May 23, after being allowed to sit inside, than the previous week.

The figures came from banking firm Revolut, which analysed the data of its 9,000 customers in County Durham.

However, spending was still 41 per cent below a normal week in February last year before the pandemic began.