PUB landlords are ‘devastated’ by the news Dorset will be placed under Tier 2 coronavirus restrictions.

Those in the industry said the shock announcement would be a ‘disaster’ for them and was ‘unfair’, considering the county’s low number of Covid cases compared with other parts of the country.

Rhos Thompson, landlord of The Wyke Smugglers in Wyke Regis, is allowed to reopen because his pub serves food, but he doesn't even know if he will be financially able to.

He said: "I don't understand it. I don't know where the logic is. For all the hard work that the pubs in the Dorset area have done to be lumped into the same tier as London, Liverpool and the rest, I don't think it's very fair.

"I feel for the wet only pubs. It's going to be a disaster for them. Some of the smaller pubs make probably 20-30 per cent of their profit during the Christmas and New Year period and the money they make then is what helps them through the year.

"I can serve food here but I'm not even sure if I'm going to open. I'm going to have to sit down and digest it all to see if it would be financially viable.

"I tell you what, this is one clever virus if it can tell who has eaten a substantial meal."

Sophie Gardiner, manager of The Boot Inn in Weymouth, said they would be missing out on about £8,000 a week in December. "We are devastated," she said. "We are losing a lot of money as it is by being closed during lockdown and now, just because we don't serve food, we can't open.

"We thought we were going to be in Tier 1 because it's so low in Weymouth and Dorset. We're just gutted, I'm devastated really. It just doesn't make sense.

"I want to know why restaurants are allowed to open but pubs aren't unless they serve food. I don't know if they are trying to destroy the industry or what.

"We might reopen in January, which is the quietest time of the year for pubs. We need to open now because the December period is our busiest time and we need to claw back some of the money we have lost.

"I would love to thank our customers that have supported us this year. During the winter months our locals are the ones who support us and keep us going. This pub and the locals we have are like one big family.

"I hope we can open for at least one week in December so we can see all our locals and give them a proper Christmas."