Bar and restaurant owners braced for South Tyneside to remain in Tier 3 over Christmas

Many bosses admit they do not expect the current Tier 3 restrictions to be eased when the Government announces a review of guidelines.

Instead, some even claim they will be better off staying shut, due to the costs of employing extra staff and losing out on financial support.

And several fear it may be another two months before the borough is downgraded to the lower Tier 2 level.

Moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2 would bring several changes, including pubs which serve food as a meal being able to reopen, and spectators returning to sports events.

Kath Brain, 40, licensee of The Steamboat, at the Mill Dam, South Shields, said her business would stay shut, even if moved to Tier 2.

She said: “We do not sell food and therefore we can’t open unless South Tyneside gets to Tier 1, which simply is not going to happen yet.

“I’d rather stay in Tier 3 than Tier 2, as at least I continue to get financial support. Opening at Christmas, with restrictions in place, would be costly.

“For starters, I’d have to employ more staff to ensure customers stuck to the rules. Keeping customers safe would be a logistical nightmare.

“Moving to Tier 2 won’t happen for a while yet, but ideally I want to go to Tier 1. Right now, I can’t see any end to these restrictions.”

Richard Ord Snr, managing director of Colmans’ two seafood restaurants in South Shields, said: “I see no change to Tier 3 for at least another two months.

“The figures for Covid seem to be going up. I don’t think the government will reduce the tiers so that restaurants can re-open.

“Colmans has been around for over 100 years and we will survive, but many restaurant businesses in South Shields have been hit hard.

“Being in Tier 2 earlier this year, which allowed us to have people in our restaurants, made a huge difference.

“It’s been a disastrous year and being Tier 3 will have a really bad impact on a lot of businesses this Christmas.”

Dawn Colman, 47, of the family-run Westoe Café, at Westoe, South Shields, said: “We hope very much that the man in Number 10 will lower our tier level.

“Unfortunately, I just don’t know what will happen. It all depends on the data and right now there’s no clear indication.

“We very much hope to open, but we must be able to do so safely, and if the time isn’t quite right, then we will have to wait.

“We only opened in August and it was a lifelong dream to have a café. If we can open during a pandemic and survive, then we can survive anything.

“My husband says that after the rain there is a rainbow, and you have to hope that isn’t far away. It’s going to be a very big rainbow.”

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