Bars and restaurants in Clydebank will remain open but will be kept under "close review" as lockdown restrictions in the West of Scotland were extended today.

At the Scottish Government's media briefing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that indoor gatherings continue to be the main cause behind a spike in COVID-19 cases across Glasgow and the west. 

Other authorities to be affected by the restrictions include West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire as cases continue to increase. 

It means those living in the restricted areas are not permitted to host anybody within their home and are not allowed to visit other households. 

The hospitality sector will however remain under "close review". 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "Some transmission, we know, is taking place in pubs and restaurants and so we will keep that under close review. 

“We will discuss with the five local authorities what further steps we can take to ensure pubs, bars and restaurants are operating within the rules.

"In doing that, we’ll seek to learn lessons from the work that Environmental Health officers did in Aberdeen before pubs and bars were able to reopen there."

The First Minister reiterated the rules for meeting inside pubs from different households. 

She said: “One point I would stress is there remains a responsibility for customers - the rules on indoor meetings still apply in pubs so there should be no more than eight people from three households and each household should physically distance.

“If you arrive in a pub that is crowded and where physical distancing is difficult then I would strongly advise not to stay there. Try to find a venue that is less busy. It’s also far better to stay in one pub than to visit several.”

“The hospitality sector has reopened and we want people to be able to support the sector and of course to be able to safely enjoy themselves but we are still living in a global pandemic - that pandemic is still accelerating across the country and across the world so you should not be socialising as you were last year or at the start of this year.”

The announcement comes as three further deaths caused by COVID-19 were recorded in Scotland within the past 24 hours.

A total of 91 new cases were also recorded in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. In the week since the restrictions were re-imposed, there have also been 516 positive cases across the local health board region.