A RESTAURANT chain run by Raymond Blanc is closing all of its branches during the coronavirus outbreak.

Brasserie Blanc has shut down its sites, it announced to customers today, until further notice.

There are 17 locations including Oxford, in Walton Street in Jericho.

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A notice posted on the restaurant's website, and emailed to customers, said the announcement came with 'great sadness'.

The message said: "Taking the advice from the government and the wellbeing of our guests and our teams into consideration, we feel it is our only option at this moment in time.

"Apologies to all of you who had bookings with us, especially those looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day at one of our brasseries. We will miss you and your families a great deal and hope you can find other ways to mark your special occasion.

"If you have an up and coming reservation with us, a member of our team will be in touch to cancel your booking.

"We have a strong business and we have strategies in place to get us through this crisis and out the other side so we look forward to being back, firing on all cylinders, as and when the time is right."

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The statement from the Brasserie Blanc team thanked customers for their loyalty and said they would be keeping them updated.

They have set up a public Facebook group called #BBKind to 'keep the BB [Brasserie Blanc] spirit alive' in the interim.