Harborough Museum will temporarily close during lockdown - but tips will stay open

Harborough Museum is among museum and heritage sites that have now shut in Leicestershire as the new four-week Covid-19 national lockdown is imposed.

The museum at the Symington Building on Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough, will be closed until the start of December.

It’s being temporarily shut as Cllr Nick Rushton, the leader of Leicestershire County Council, urged everyone to help beat the spread of coronavirus following a steep rise in cases locally.

For the next four weeks people are being told to stay at home – apart from attending school, college, university, work or to go food shopping.

Under the tough new restrictions, pubs, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops will also close.

But takeaways and click-and-collect shopping can remain open.

Among sites now closed across the county are:

• Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre

• 1620s House and Garden at Donington-le-Heath

• Charnwood Museum

• Melton Museum

• Harborough Museum

• The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland.

The Record Office will continue to respond to enquiries and provide copying, digital and research services.

Further information is available at www.recordoffice.org.uk

Government guidance also outlines that libraries such as Market Harborough’s at the Symington Building must close except for ‘click and collect’ services, which have already proved successful in the county.

Libraries will also stay open for people who do not have a PC at home and can access a computer.

Library members can book a one-hour slot at a workstation.

To find out more, visit https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries/click-and-collect-serviceThe county council’s Adult Education (GoLearn) service will continue to be delivered on site and additional online resources will be provided where learners are unable to attend their classes.

The library service will continue to support access for adult learning.

Birth and death registrations will continue.

However, weddings and civil partnership ceremonies will only take place in exceptional circumstances.

The council will also be contacting vulnerable people to establish what they may need in terms of extra support.

Cllr Rushton said it was a “worrying time” for people as he stressed that “supporting our residents through these continuing times of difficulty remains our absolute priority”.

“We remain committed to supporting the most vulnerable.

“We’ll be contacting a small number of people who need extra support to see what they need.

“This is all part of the tireless work being carried by our staff on the frontline and behind the scenes,” he said.

“I’d particularly like to thank those staff who work in social care who have been working round the clock to keep residents safe.”

The council’s recycling and household waste sites, including those at Market Harborough, Lutterworth and near Kibworth, will remain open if safe to do so.

But the council is encouraging people to only visit sites, if essential, and by appointment only.

You can book a slot at www.leicestershire.gov.uk/wasteFor the latest council updates on coronavirus, visit: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/popular-now/coronavirus-council-updates