Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has urged constituents to stick "rigidly" to the Covid-19 social distancing and hygiene rules amid fears that Aberdeenshire may be placed under tighter restrictions.
Press reports over the weekend suggested that the council area may be moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 of Coronavirus restrictions this week.
Local figures published by NHS Grampian have shown the number of positive cases per 100,000 in Aberdeenshire doubled in the week from Nov 5 to Nov 12, from 26 to 52. There have been spikes in and around Peterhead, Fraserburgh and other parts of the Banff and Buchan constituency.
Scottish Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan David Duguid said:
"The latest local figures show clearly that cases are rising in parts of Aberdeenshire, and particularly in areas within my Banff and Buchan constituency.
"This is a worrying trend and there is now a real risk of Aberdeenshire being moved up to the tier three level of restrictions.
"The best way to prevent that from happening is for people to stick rigidly to the rules and break the chain of transmission.
"There is absolutely no room whatsoever for complacency – the virus is still out there!
"I would encourage everyone across Banff and Buchan, and Aberdeenshire more widely, to continue to protect each other by following the social distancing and hygiene measures with which we have unfortunately become very familiar.
"Failure to stop the spread of the virus will almost certainly result in more restrictions being imposed on our day-to-day lives and on local businesses."