Bermudians living in London and the south-east of England can still travel home over the holiday season, despite new lockdown laws in the UK.

A Government spokeswoman today appealed to Bermudians in the UK to stick to the UK restrictions.

But she added that overseas travel was still permitted for anyone living in a Tier 4 zone, as long as it could be justified.

The spokeswoman said: “If an individual is ordinarily resident in Bermuda and travelled to the UK for purposes of vacation, education, or medical reasons the current rules allow for their travel to return to Bermuda.“

She was speaking after parts of the UK capital and surrounding counties were designated Tier 4 areas after spikes in the spread of Covid-19.

Lockdown laws, including a ban on non-essential travel, were imposed at the weekend.

The Bermuda Government spokeswoman said: “In line with UK government guidance, individuals resident in a Tier 4 area must not leave their primary place of residence unless such travel is essential, for example for work or education purposes.

“If an individual requires to travel they must stay within their local area and look to reduce the number of journeys they make overall. This includes a ban on international travel.”

The UK government website told the public that travel overseas was permitted for anyone in a Tier 4 zone “where you first have a legally permitted reason to leave home”.

It added: “In addition, you should consider the public health advice in the country you are visiting.

“If you live outside a Tier 4 area you may still transit into or through a Tier 4 area to travel abroad if you need to, but you should carefully consider whether you need to do so.

“In addition, you should follow the public health advice in the country you’re visiting.

“If you do need to travel overseas from a Tier 4 area and are legally permitted to do so, for example, because it is for work, even if you are returning to a place you've visited before, you should look at the rules in place at your destination.”