A PROMINENT Winchester restaurant has announced it has closed for good.

Loch Fyne on Jewry Street closed in March and the 16th century Tudor building was boarded up, but unlike most other restaurants has remained closed.

Now in a letter to city MP Steve Brine, its owner Greene King has confirmed the permanent closure.

Greg Sage, corporate affairs director, said: "This has been an extremely difficult decision to make, but unfortunately the challenging trading environment, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, means our Winchester Loch Fyne restaurant is no longer viable for the future.

"I understand that this will be disappointing news for you and many of your constituents, but I want to assure you that we are committed to Winchester and are working with our teams to find them a role in another of our sites in the area. I can also confirm that we will be doing all we can to help our team members find alternative roles if we are unable to redeploy them in our own sites.

"As I’m sure you will be aware, the Covid-19 crisis has been an extremely challenging time for the whole hospitality industry. Under government instruction, all our sites were closed from 20 March until we began to reopen on 6 July. We have been working hard to make sure our pubs are safe for customers and team members and we invested more than £15m in our ‘Pub Safe’ hygiene and safety measures ahead of reopening. While we had begun to get back on our feet, aided by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, the recent new restrictions on the hospitality sector, combined with various local lockdowns, mean that we need additional support from the Government until we are able to trade as normal. Without it, there is a risk that more jobs in the hospitality industry could be at risk.

"We have welcomed the support from government and are grateful for the further measures announced by the Chancellor. However, we do not believe that the Job Support Scheme and wider measures go far enough. We are urging the Government to consider new ways to support the sector beyond the VAT reduction, including an extension of the business rates holiday and a cut in beer duty. It is critical that our sector – which is being hit with new restrictions despite a lack of scientific evidence to support these actions – receives targeted support if the industry is to survive."

Mr Brine said: "This is a real shame but few will be surprised as we had been wondering given the boards stayed in place as all else opened around."

Mr Brine added: "Although a big space to fill, there’s a big opportunity here for someone in a unique Winchester building. I just wish our city had a plan to emerge from this stronger and attract something great to fill the Loch Fyne void.”