A pub has been forced to axe Christmas bookings and shut at short notice due to staff isolating.

The Bull in London Road, Horns Cross, made the difficult decision to close its doors and cancel reservations following Covid-19 related disruption to its management team.

The Stone-based flaming grill pub, which is part of pub chain Greene King, said the decision was "necessary" had been taken for taken for the safety of both staff and customers.

A spokesman for the chain said: "It is with a extremely heavy heart that the Bull will be closing its doors until further notice.

"We know many of you may be extremely disappointed and it was an extremely tough decision to make, but due to our management team needing to isolate, and for the safety of our staff and our customers, we have made this necessary decision.

"Anyone that has made reservations will receive a call from one of our team within the next 24hrs and unfortunately this does include Christmas Day and Boxing Day. "

The pub said more details will be made available in the following days and it apologised for the short notice.

They added: "We look forward to welcoming you back through our doors as soon as we possibly can."

Meanwhile, UKHospitality boss Kate Nicholls and pub chiefs have made a plea for business rates relief and VAT discounts to be extended.

They have warned that the sector has been knocked harder than expected by the Plan B restrictions.

It comes after the announcement sales have already plunged by more than a third over the last 10 days with £2 billion of trade already lost in December.