Lincolnshire County Council leader update on council services during coronavirus pandemic

Mr Hill said: "The government and our NHS have been very clear that the single most important action we can all take at the moment is to stay at home in order to save lives .

"There are of course exceptions to when people will need to leave the house, but we should all be looking at different ways of working and carrying out daily activities to reduce and avoid day-to-day physical contact with other people.

"We're lucky that here in Lincolnshire most of us will live somewhere near a green space or even the countryside.

“We should be able to get outside once a day to enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise or walk the dog, while remaining a safe distance away from other people. But it's really important that we don't meet in groups, beyond the people we live with.

"You'll know by now that any of our services where it would be hard for people to stay away from others, or which would be classed as 'unnecessary journeys', have now closed.”

Libraries, community hubs, council offices and rubbish tips are all closed to the public. Marriages and civil partnerships will not be going ahead.

Mr Hill added: “Although these are difficult decisions, they are the right ones. I've talked a lot about protecting services for the most vulnerable and that will continue to be the case.

“As well as the additional help we are putting in, we have kept our day centres running for adults with additional needs.

"Because they are now seeing falling demand because of people self-isolating in line with the government's advice, we have now taken the decision to close nine of our adult day centres including Gainsborough.

"We are still adapting quickly and flexibly to the changing situation in Lincolnshire, and we're grateful to our residents who are having to do this too."

You can keep up-to-date with all the latest information and changes to council services at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/coronavirus.