A COMMUNITY pub has blasted the decision to put Lancashire in a tier 2 lockdown as it struggles to stay open during the pandemic.

The Brown Cow in Clitheroe, run by husband and wife Phil and Laura Smithies, is a community run pub which has been hit hard by the new restrictions.

Mrs Smithies is unhappy with being in tier 2 as this means they cannot have any group of six in the pub who do not live together, making it impossible for business.

She said: “When the first lockdown finished we followed all the guidelines and had a drop of 60% on profits and were only allowing locals to come in so they felt safe.

“We are a community pub and a lot of people who come in live alone.

“When we opened up again they could see their friends, but now in tier 2 it is impossible because we have to separate the tables and if someone lives alone they have to sit alone.

“If we do that, then I’d have about 10 people in.”

Mrs Smithies has talked to other pubs in Clitheroe, who all agree if they had been put in the more strict tier 3 then they would have had some financial help.

She said: “We won’t get help if we have to close during this time because we cannot cope.

“We don’t know what else to do.”

MP Nigel Evans for Ribble Valley visited the pub and assured Mrs Smithies that he understood the plight of pub owners in Clitheroe.

Mrs Smithies said: “I don’t even think people understand what tier 2 even means, I feel we have been forgotten about.”

Mrs Smithies does not think Clitheroe should be punished when businesses have been following government guidelines.

The pub has attempting to reorganise the room to get it ready for customers who visit after tier 2 starts.

She said: “I am worried about the mental health of the community, because the lonely people won’t be able to see friends.

“I just do not think they have thought about this, they haven’t see the men who came in and were crying when lockdown ended because they had been so lonely.

“We would be in danger of closing if this carries on now, because we cannot make a living off eight people in a pub.”

The community has helped the pub after lockdown but now Mrs Smithies feels there is not much more they can do.