One of Sittingbourne's liveliest music pubs appears to have closed.

Unable to continue with bands because of the coronavirus restrictions the popular Ypres Tavern in West Street has boarded up its doors.

The news immediately brought tributes from the area's musicians.

Ed Austin, lead singer with Marylebone Jelly who performed a covid-safe outside concert recently in Sittingbourne for punters in their cars, said: "We are disappointed to see the closure of a great venue where we’ve had so many awesome shows."

Brad Pittance, who played there with his Pirates, said: "This is very sad. We had a fantastic gig there playing to a packed house just a few days before lockdown. So many pubs and clubs must be struggling to survive right now.

"Please support them if they are offering takeaways and off-sales and try to make sure they can stay in business. Without these places, life will never be the same."

Neil Foreman said: "We had many great gigs there with The Fabulous Grandads."

Bob Godsiff added: "It is sad to see the Ypres Tavern all boarded up due to Covid-19 and the lockdown. I’ve played there with The Cream Crackered band and it was always busy. It is always sad when a live music venue closes. It seems highly unlikely it will reopen. I only hope I’m wrong."

Sittingbourne is known for its wide selection of live music pubs such as the Stumble Inn, the Fountain of Ale, the Beauty of Bath and the Appleyard, formerly the UKP Leisure Club in the Avenue of Remembrance.

Mike Farrow, the Appleyard's managing director, warned that more businesses could fold if Kent remains in Tier 3. "We're all doing really badly," he admitted. "At the end of the day, we're all in the same boat and trying to survive.

"But surviving depends on cash flow. If pubs and clubs can't get a regular income they can't pay their bills or staff. The ones which stick around longest will be those which don't have as many bills or have money in the bank.

"We are trying to keep 20 staff going and have paid them throughout furlough. But it's becoming harder for us because of the restrictions. We've had grant money which helped during the first lockdown but this time it's been difficult getting help.

"It's going to be detrimental to a lot of pubs and clubs out there, like the Ypres."

Mr Farrow said the restrictions also had an impact on customers who rely on the not-for-profit venue.

He said: "We have had to cancel many events, some which would have had around 400 guests. We do a lot of retirement events for over-55s. The pandemic has left us in a bad way but it has also affected our regulars. For many this was their only social outing."

He added: "We do a lot of charity work including raising money for the baby unit at Medway Hospital. In the past few years we've raised about £40,000 but haven't been able to do anything like that this year - so these charities are missing out on vital funds.

"We could have been better prepared if we had been told when restrictions were coming in earlier. To be told we were going into a lockdown a couple of days before, when we had just ordered £1,000-worth of stock, really hurt us."

Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Faversham brewer Shepherd Neame, blasted No.10's decision-making as "absolutely ludicrous" and said he feared the knock-on effect for the pub industry will be devastating.

"The sector has zero trust in the Government as this is the fourth change of strategy in six weeks," he said.

"Every time, we have to pivot our business and rethink what we're doing.

"I find it bizarre that schools and universities are staying open when they are one of the principle sources of transmission. And then hospitality and non-essential shops, where there was virtually no transmission, gets shut down.

"There was an industry survey which revealed from 250 million customer interactions there were only 1,700 infections. That works out as a 0.0003% infection rate. The Government has issued no evidence to support shutting the industry."

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