Foot-and-mouth continues to put pubs out of business

Related tags Foot-and-mouth crisis England

The foot-and-mouth crisis is still forcing pubs out of business, despite support from the new Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...

The foot-and-mouth crisis is still forcing pubs out of business, despite support from the new Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Licensees from Cumbria, Wales and the West Country have visited the new minister for rural affairs, Alun Michael, as part of the UK Rural Business Network which is made up from small businesses from all over the country.

Terry Franks, licensee of the Royal Oak in Braithwaite, Keswick, said he was pleased with how the discussions with the minister had gone but added that the outlook is still bleak for businesses in Cumbria.

"I'm having to let one of my pubs go just so I can keep afloat," he said. "It's a sad time for me." He has given notice on his second pub, the Waverley Hotel in Penrith, which he has run for three years, on the market.

"It is getting better slowly. We're having a vast amount of weekend trade but the week trade is not there and there's no advance bookings for accommodation. It's pretty dismal and it's going to be a hard winter."

But he said the meeting with the minister had renewed hopes that all of the countryside would soon re-open.

"We're trying to up the pace and get everything open. We've been quite successful and we're getting good feedback," he said.

Hardship relief for businesses in the 37 worst-affected areas of England has been extended to cover those with a rateable value of £50,000, bringing it in line with Wales. In Scotland and the other areas of England, the relief is only available to businesses with a rateable value of up to £12,000.

Restrictions are still in force in many parts of the country including Exmoor, Dartmoor, Yorkshire and parts of Scotland and Wales, which is continuing to have an effect on tourism.

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