Restaurateurs have welcomed a move from by the government to cover staff wages after they were formally ordered to close their businesses today.
The Prime Minister said all pubs, cafés and restaurants must shut by midnight tonight (Friday), with only takeaways now allowed, in a bid to enforce their 'social distancing' policy designed to tackle the coronavirus epidemic.
In a historic intervention, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government would meet 80 percent of the wages of employees unable to work due to the crisis.
Despite restaurateurs saying confirmation they would have to close their doors for the foreseeable future was sad, they welcomed the move to cover staff wages, which are in place for those earning up to £2,500 a month,
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