Buckinghamshire could be one of four areas that might be at risk of going into Tier 3 coronavirus lockdown next week, according to fresh app data.

Buckinghamshire, Suffolk, Warrington and Cheshire and Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset - all of which are currently in Tier 2 - have seen the rate of Covid cases per 100,000 in the general population and for the over 60s go up. 

This could potentially put them at risk of moving into tougher restrictions when the Tiers are reviewed on December 16. 

It is important to note these estimated rates are based on data from the Covid Symptom Study, an app run by experts at ZOE and Kings College London. 

The estimates form part of their daily report for December 8, which is then presented to the government. 

It is based on around one million app users self-reporting how they feel and the proportion of newly symptomatic users who have had positive swab tests. 

According to the Covid Symptom Study report for December 8, Buckinghamshire's prevalence rate per 100,000 is 352. 

The prevalence rate among the over 60s per 100,000 is 101. 

Both of these figures "imply an increase in prevalence in the past week", the report adds. 

They are, by far, not the highest prevalence rates reported in different areas - for example, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent's prevalence rate per 100,000 is 808 - but the cases in other areas are decreasing, according to the app. 

The government has said it will decide which Tiers are applied in each area using five measures - including case detection rates in all age groups, the rate at which infections are rising or falling, and the predicted strain on the NHS.