Northampton council leader apologises for impact of 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants...but says health must come first

Northampton council's leader has apologised to pub and restaurant owners affected by the 10pm curfew and urged people to keep shopping in the town centre.

Jonathan Nunn revealed footfall from 4-11pm in the town centre has fallen since the government measure was introduced last week, which is damaging hospitality businesses.

Pubs across the country have complained about the impact of the curfew, including the King Billy Rock Bar in Commercial Street, which says it will close if it does not get enough punters this weekend, according to its Facebook page.

Northampton Borough Council's leader sympathised with business owners who he guessed would be running at a loss at the moment but believes protecting lives is more important.

"Ultimately we've got to be focused on the public health side of this and what I would really hate to see is another lockdown," he told the weekly coronavirus press conference this afternoon (Friday, October 2).

"To go back to only having supermarkets open like we did in the spring would be awful and if business do have to shut again, many are so close to the edge then I'm sure we would lose even more.

"But my guy feeling is we have to go along with it as we need to get down this infection rate so to all those who have been affected, I'm really sorry what's happening."

Cllr Nunn said he is having a meeting with the town centre business improvement district (BID) to get more feedback from traders and see what more support could be offered.

While the evening footfall is down, the number of people in the town centre from 8am to 4pm has increased, the Conservative councillor revealed.

But Cllr Nunn insisted that more support is needed from shoppers to ensure businesses stay open as well as from the government and local authorities.

"The change on the town centre we saw before Covid has been accelerated to what we may have seen in a couple of years so it's very disappointing," he said in reply to a question from the Chronicle & Echo.

Cllr Nunn said the government has pledged to maintain its funding support for the town from before the pandemic but he believes more is needed because the market has changed so dramatically.

"But we also need shoppers' support and I stand by the work we are doing to promote the town as a safe place to come," he continued.

"We need people to come in and shop and spend money and you can do that safely."

The Covid-19 infection rate has gone down in Northampton and is 'significantly lower' than the national average, according to the latest statistics.

Residents were praised for listening to the guidance by health bosses but they warned not to get complacent as the changes are more down to the England average going up.

Cllr Nunn said: "We want to keep things open in the evening and keep everything open but we've got to knuckle down to get from high concern to average and can get to be a beacon of low rates?"