Long Sutton bar/restaurant owner says Tier 3 ruling for South Holland is an 'awful shame'

The owner of a high-end bar and restaurant in Long Sutton has branded the Government's decision to put South Holland under Tier 3 restrictions as "totally out of order".

Sean Portass, who with wife Dana runs Palmers Ale House and Kitchen in Market Place, is now having to cancel all bookings for December after demand meant the restaurant was sold out most nights.

Under Tier 3, hospitality venues like bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants across South Holland will have to stay shut, except for delivery and takeaway services.

Sean said: "We're not going to serve takeaways as we're a different class of establishment and the sort of food we serve doesn't go hand-in-hand with takeaways or deliveries.

"The Government hasn't done a very good with this pandemic all the way through and putting the area in Tier 3 is totally out of order.

"When you look at place like Long Sutton, there's hardly anybody who's had coronavirus and if you didn't watch the news every day, you genuinely wouldn't think there was anything wrong.

South Holland and Lincolnshire leaders tell government no to put county in Tier 3 restrictions

"It's an awful shame for us because Christmas Day was sold out and most of December was sold out too.

"We now have to ring people and say: 'We're going to be closed'.

"Lots of people are going to be unhappy, but there's not a lot we can do about it.

"We'll just have to bite the bullet and come out on the other side."

Fears that South Holland could be placed tier 3 despite have low rates of COVID-19