NORTHWICH pub and bar owners have been reacting to the four step roadmap announced by the Prime Minister on Monday.

As part of his plans to ease England out of its third, and hopefully last, national lockdown, Boris Johnson said restaurants, bars and pubs can open for outdoor eating and drinking from April 12, at the earliest.

The third national lockdown, which began on January 4, means the route out, although clear, is still another seven weeks away, with some calling on the government to help businesses survive until then.

Pete Naylor, one of the four owners of The Hart in Hartford, said he can't wait to welcome back customers but stressed there was still 'a long way to go'.

He said: "The positive news is we now have something to aim for, the roadmap has provided some much needed light at the end of this long tunnel where we can finally see what could be a way out.

"What's really tough for hospitality though is we are only half way through this lockdown for our industry, so there is still is a long way to go, and for some that’s just going to be too long to hang on.

"Announcements on further support have to be made by the chancellor now surely to help the industry survive until the April 12 before they can start to re-open.

"Premises with indoor only space, like many restaurants and pubs, have even longer to wait, and surely the government and Cheshire West and Chester don’t believe that the industry can survive on the grants they issued back in January.

Northwich Guardian: The new outdoor space at the Hart means the business will be able to run at one third capacity.

The new outdoor space at the Hart means the business will be able to run at one third capacity.

"At the Hart we are lucky enough to have created a great outdoor space, but that is only one-third of our covers that we offer, so it will mean in April we’ll be running on limited capacity and unable to return a full team back to work until the May date when indoor areas can start to re-open.

"We now have these remaining weeks to plan an outstanding opening plan and make sure we are ready to welcome back our brilliant customers.

"We can't wait."

For Emma Smith and her partner Danny Barton, who run the town centre-based The Swinging Witch, re-opening is further complicated by the damage caused by the January floods, which left part of the pub chest deep in water.

Emma said: "We were hit severely by the floods and just starting to do repair works.

"There's a lot to be done.

"We were chest deep in parts of the pub.

"The weather can't be predicted in the UK and to open a beer garden and hope it's sunny is a massive gamble.

Northwich Guardian: The Swinging Witch was hit severely by the floods in January and will be re-opening on May 17.

The Swinging Witch was hit severely by the floods in January and will be re-opening on May 17.

"We spoke with our brewery and it's better to wait until May 17.

"Since we announced that re-opening date on Facebook last night (Monday) we have had already had 19 table bookings.

"It's really shown us that the support we receive from our customers is amazing and we can't wait to welcome them back."

Chris Mundie, who owns the popular The Salty Dog was being cautious and said he wants to digest the announcement fully before making any firm re-opening plans.

He said: "We've not made any decisions yet.

"Just digesting it all at the moment before we decide on how to proceed.

"I'd say we have a cautious optimism.

"We've learnt not to count our chickens before they hatch, but at the same time, when push comes to shove, we don't mind the odd omelette."