Amanda Holden and Michelle Keegan lead a host of stars with dazzling Christmas door decorations

Feeling Claus-traphobic? Amanda Holden and Michelle Keegan lead a host of house-bound stars putting up dazzling door decorations as Tier 4 lockdown clouds Christmas holiday

Amanda Holden and Michelle Keegan are leading a host of celebrities in putting up elaborate door decorations as the new Tier 4 lockdown leaves them house-bound.

A number of stars have taken to Instagram at the height of the proverbial season to be jolly to show off their property adornments – as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces draconian new measures in a bid to tackle COVID-19 infection rates.

Rather than share the usual slew of social media snaps from the popular winter destination beaches of the Caribbean and Maldives, the stars have hired professional decorators to spruce up their hot-so-humble abodes with baubles and foliage.

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(L-R) Amanda Holden and Michelle Keegan 

Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda, 49, had her west London and Gloucestershire homes professionally decorated by Hertforshire company Elements Home and Garden, whose glittering peacock-themed tree impressed the star.

Meanwhile, Early Hours London – which has also decorated the homes of Holly Willoughby and Abbey Clancy – was tasked with giving her door a festive makeover. 

And with borders closing to Brits following the announcement of a new strain of the novel coronavirus, money saved on travel has resulted in a bigger budget for elaborate home celebrations.

Early Hours London co-founder Lizzie Powell told the Daily Mail: ‘Covid has placed a big factor because everyone is really home-focused and they can’t travel…

‘So they have invested their money in dressing their homes. Doing your front door is obviously very appealing to people.’

Russell Worricker of Elements Home and Garde – whose clients include Mark Wright and his wife Michelle Keegan – started working on decorating homes in November

Explaining the the early demand, he said: ‘People need cheering up – they wanted to start looking forward to something early.’ 

On Saturday, the Prime Minister slapped new draconian measures in a desperate bid to combat a surge in cases caused by a ‘mutant’ strain of coronavirus, just days after he said it would be ‘inhuman’ to cancel Christmas.

The extraordinary U-turn has ruined the plans of millions who intended on spending the holiday with families.

Under the new Tier 4 rules non-essential shops – as well as gyms, cinemas, casinos and hairdressers – have to stay shut and people are limited to meeting one other person from another household in an outdoor public space.

Those in Tier 4 were told they should not travel out of the region, while those outside were advised against visiting. In the rest of England, Christmas easing has been severely curtailed, with households allowed to gather for just one day – Christmas Day itself – rather than the five days previously planned.

Wales has also announced it is going into a full lockdown from midnight and will follow suit by slashing bubbles to a single day.

Nicola Sturgeon said at her own press conference that a ban on cross-border travel is being upgraded, and the law will be changed to cut bubbles to one day.

The move has caused chaos, with the PM facing accusations of ‘inconsistency’ after the last minute U-turn, with Tories calling for Cabinet resignations and a review of the data used to create the fourth tier.

Meanwhile the UK’s European neighbours, including Italy, Holland, Belgium, Austria and the Czech Republic have banned flights from the UK, with Germany and Ireland also considering limiting passengers.