BABIES born during the coronavirus pandemic will not be registered after birth.

Both Cheshire East and West councils have stopped birth registrations after instructions from the Registrar General to help combat the spread of the virus.

It is a legal requirement for parents to register a birth and should be done 42 days after the baby is born.

This should be done at a registry office in the district the child is born in and made in person either by both or one parent.

However, both CEC and CWAC say that all registrations have been cancelled for the foreseeable future due to coronavirus.

But parents and carers can make a claim for child benefit or Universal Credit prior to the birth being registered.

The closure of register offices across the county also means weddings and civil partnership ceremonies have been cancelled.

People in Cheshire can still register a death, however the rules on this have also changed to meet Government guidance on social distancing.

For more information and to make an appointment in Northwich and Winsford, call CWAC on 0300 123 7037.

In Middlewich, Knutsford and Wilmslow, call CEC on 0300 123 5019.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people must stay at home and can only leave to shop for food and medicine 'as infrequently as possible', carry out one form of exercise a day, provide care or help to a vulnerable person, for any medical need or to travel to and from work when 'absolutely necessary' and it cannot be done from home.