BUSINESS owners have been forced to close their doors once again as the country is plunged into another lockdown - a move one landlord described as 'frustrating and stressful'.

England has entered its third national lockdown this week meaning non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues have temporarily shut.

Bars, pubs and restaurants must also stay closed except for delivery or take-away services. However, pubs are not able to sell alcohol to takeaway.

John Baker, landlord of the Ropemakers on West Street, Bridport, said: “It’s been very frustrating and stressful. Personally I believe we should have gone into lockdown a lot earlier. The tier system wasn't working as every time they announce harsher restrictions for different areas, everyone would just disappear to other tiers.

“We were given incredibly short notice, we had plenty of food and ale in stock which we had no time to get rid of.

“That was the most frustrating thing, even if we were given a week to prepare we would order stock appropriately and wind it down."

He added: “The lockdown does have to be done, however, so we have to put a brave face on and try to get through it.”

Harriet Mansell, TV chef and owner of Lyme Regis' Robin Wylde, said: "It’s been a very frustrating time for us. I’m not sure it’s been handled at any point in a way that looks after the hospitality industry.

"I understand the reasons for the lockdown, obviously, cases are going up and we need to make sure we don’t overwhelm our medical facilities. However, I don’t think things have been mapped out in a way that makes sense for the industry.

"The best example of how we’ve been let down is that we were closed down on December 31 with 24 hours notice. Venues had spent a lot of money on New Year's Eve events and with just a day's extra notice we could have acted on it better. As it happened I had to refund £1,500 worth of tickets, and I spent a considerable amount on food and drink for the occasion.

"It felt like a bit of a middle finger to the hospitality industry."

Following a difficult year for the hospitality industry, many local venues are supporting a petition for a Minister of Hospitality, which is set to be debated in Parliament on Monday, January 11.

Harriet Mansell said: "The hospitality industry is a phenomenally huge sector and we don’t have any ministerial representation or anyone to specifically look after our industry - I think it would be a real step in the right direction."

Sally Ann Palmer, co-owner of Cilla and Camilla, which has stores in Bridport and Beaminster, said: “It’s very frustrating but it’s clearly the right thing to be doing. To be honest we’re beginning to get used to short term business planning.

“We personally believe this lockdown strategy is better than the confusing and inconsistent tier system. In recent weeks we've had customers five miles away who were unable to shop with us whilst others living 50 miles away in the Dorset area have been able to come.

“When we’ve been able to open its been great, we feel like we’ve been really well supported by the community.

“We have an elderly population we have so hopefully they will all receive the vaccination soon and we can begin to get back to normal.

Robert Mühl, president of Bridport Business Chamber, said: “We understand the good reasons for the latest lockdown, but this must be a devastating development for many businesses which have struggled, but so far managed to keep going, during the pandemic.

“We have seen over the past 10 months that members of the Bridport Business community are strong, inventive and very willing to make changes in the way they serve their clients and customers.

“The Business Chamber is here to help and share our experiences, good and bad. We would ask everyone in the Bridport area to obey the lockdown rules and continue to support local businesses in any way they can. Let’s hope the restrictions can be lifted sooner rather than later.”

A list of local pubs and restaurants which are offering take-away services can be found on our website www.bridportnews.co.uk

Email us news@bridportnews.co.uk if you would like your business to be added to this list.