Pubs, restaurants and bars react to 'frustrating' new lockdown restrictions

Under tough new sanctions all hospitality venues will be restricted to takeaway only and they will be required to close between from 10pm to 5am. 

And a ban on mixing outside households in public outdoor settings will be enforceable by law.

Businesses said they felt disappointed and frustrated that Bolton was subject to additional 'lockdown measures' ­— and feared that some may just go to neighbouring boroughs.

(Northern Monkey)

Ryan Bailey from Northern Monkey said: "It feels like you don't know what is happening one day to the next and I just feel as if we are all over the place.

"We were given an outdoor seating licence which really helped business and if we have really good weather we will miss out on that. Furlough is down to 70 per cent for staff so we will look at topping that up because people can't live on 70 per cent on their wages.

"We are hoping this will only be for a couple weeks as it was in Leicester. During the first lockdown we launched the delivery service which we never stopped so we have still got that which can be ordered online.

(The Courthouse)

Husky Faldu from The Courthouse said: "It's not what you need right now in this industry as things had just started getting back to normal but the wellbeing of people, staff and customers is more important.

"We need people to take those extra precautions so we all return to normal again, because we can if everyone follows the guidelines."

Group executive chef of the Retreat Restaurants Gareth Mason (pictured) said: "It's all changed again, it is so frustrating. Both our Bolton restaurants will have to close but we can still keep the Adlington one open.

"We had Eat out to Help Out and now we have this, it is one extreme to another.

"We have invested in all our restaurants in light of the rules and that is not cheap we have put in so many safety measures and always looking to progress them. We have again not even been given a day's notice, so there is the stock, my staff will be be spending today cancelling reservations.

"We have a loyal customer base but this second lot of measures will have a huge impact on smaller businesses which have worked hard to establish themselves.

"Other areas like Bury, Wigan are a hop, skip and jump away, so people could go to restaurants and bars there."

Infection rates have gone from being among the lowest in Greater Manchester to the highest in the country in the space of just two weeks.

Anger has been directed at the "irresponsible few" for the introduction of tough new measures as businesses are now being forced to count the cost of the new economic lockdown measures, as they are being eased in neighbouring boroughs.

Those aged 18-49 account for the majority of the cases.

Cllr David Greenhalgh, leader of Bolton Council said: “This is not something we want to do, but it is clear the virus is currently moving round the borough uncontrolled and so we need to halt the transmission rate.

“The rate has gone from 15 cases per 100,000 to over 120 in the space of 2 weeks, and if we do not get control of the virus now, we will continue to put our most vulnerable residents at risk and delay any return to normality.

“We are working across the council with the government and our partners to bring down the number of cases of this deadly virus, and to continue to press government for extra support for the hospitality sector as they are once again asked to close their doors.

“The best way to do that is to limit the number of contacts people have. Be under no illusion, we are in this position due to the irresponsible actions of a few which has led to a position where our rates are at a level where government had no choice but to take action.

“Nobody wanted this, but we must now prove what our borough is made of follow the guidance in order to have these restrictions lifted. Together we can beat the virus, we can reduce these rates if we all play our part.”

Under tough new sanctions all hospitality for food and drink will be restricted to takeaway only, late night restriction of operating hours meaning all venues, including takeaways, will be required to close between from 10pm to 5am, and a ban on mixing outside households in public outdoor settings will be enforceable by law.

Businesses said they felt disappointed and frustrated that Bolton was subject to additional 'lockdown measures'.

Ryan Bailey from Northern Monkey said: "It feels like you don't know what is happening one day to the next and I just feel as if we are all over the place.

"We were given an outdoor seating licence which really helped business and if we have really good weather we will miss out on that. Furlough is down to 70 per cent for staff so we will look at topping that up because people can't live on 70 per cent on their wages.

"We are hoping this will only be for a couple weeks as it was in Leicester. During the first lockdown we launched the delivery service which we never stopped so we have still got that which can be ordered online.

Husky Faldu from The Courthouse said: "It's not what you need right now in this industry as things had just started getting back to normal but the wellbeing of people, staff and customers is more important.

"We need people to take those extra precautions so we all return to normal again, because we can if everyone follows the guidelines."

Group executive chef of the Retreat Restaurants Gareth Mason said: "It's all changed again, it is so frustrating. Both our Bolton restaurants will have to close but we can still keep the Adlington one open.

"We had Eat out to Help Out and now we have this, it is one extreme to another.

"We have invested in all our restaurants in light of the rules and that is not cheap we have put in so many safety measures and always looking to progress them. We have again not even been given a day's notice, so there is the stock, my staff will be be spending today cancelling reservations.

"We have a loyal customer base but this second lot of measures will have a huge impact on smaller businesses which have worked hard to establish themselves.

"Other areas like Bury, Wigan are a hop, skip and jump away, so people could go to restaurants and bars there."