(Adds further quotes)
By Paul Sandle and Phil Noble
LIVERPOOL, England, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The last pints could
be pulled in some pubs across northern England this week as
furious bosses warn new coronavirus restrictions will wipe out
their businesses, which are already reeling from a national
lockdown earlier this year.
With COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions surging, British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday unveiled a new three-tier
system of local lockdowns to curb its spread, with pubs and bars
closed down in "very high" alert areas.
Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles and home to the current
Premier League soccer champions, will be the first city to be
placed in the highest alert tier along with the surrounding
area, meaning pubs face closure from Wednesday.
Pub managers there reacted with disbelief and anger.
"My biggest worry as a boss and a licensee is my business
will have to close again and we may very well not come open next
time because there's no funds in the pot from last time," said
Frances Burleigh, landlady of The Beehive pub in the city
centre.
"The last lockdown I lost 6,500 pounds ($8,490) on beer
alone and 3,500 on food and I'll not survive that this time."
The infection rate in northwest England has been soaring in
recent weeks, and in Liverpool stands at just under 600 cases
per 100,000 people. Health chiefs say action is vital now to
prevent hospitals being overrun and a rise in deaths.
"ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS"
While local leaders say they support lockdown measures, they
have demanded that the government pump more money into helping
the hospitality industry and others affected by the forced
closures, arguing that measures announced by finance minister
Rishi Sunak last week did not go far enough.
Sunak said the government would pay up to two-thirds of
employees' salaries, capped at 2,100 pounds ($2,725) a month
each, if they worked for companies that are forced to close
temporarily.
Karen Strickland, landlady of The Grapes pub, said their
income was already down by 70% with the current enforced
nationwide closing time of 10 p.m.
"It's absolutely horrendous. My staff, some of them still
haven't come back to work yet, their job's just not here for
them," she said.
"If they are going to close our pubs it's not going to make
any difference because they're all going to have house parties,
people will still drink, people will still socialise," she said.
"At least in the pubs we did what the government wants. If
anywhere's safe, it's in a pub."
Under the new restrictions, however, pubs that serve a main
lunchtime or evening meal will be allowed to stay open, though
they will only be able to serve alcohol as part of such a meal.
David Dutton, a musician who plays local pubs, said he'd
already gone from six or seven gigs a week to two at best, even
before the latest restrictions start.
"We are not getting help," he said. "It just feels like
you're shouting down a massive well. There's nobody listening."
With local lockdowns so far focused on northern England,
despite cases rising in areas in the south of the country,
Johnson has faced accusations of targeting areas that
traditionally feel ignored by the central government in London.
"It feels like they are penalising the north again,"
Strickland said.
($1 = 0.7656 pounds)
(Writing by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and
Gareth Jones)
