The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dundee pubs call time as Perth bars welcome Tier 2 status leeway
Pubs across Dundee have decided to close rather than continue trading under ever-tightening restrictions as the city is placed under Tier 3.
Among the bars calling time until the restriction is lifted are the Bird and Bear, Abandon Ship and The Braes.
The Bank Bar, on Union Street, Dundee, is one of the few pubs that will stay open throughout the Tier 3 restrictions.
Owner Paul Russell said the decision to remain open was partly because of the outdoor seating on Union Street implemented over the summer.
He said: “We do food so we decided to stay open until 6pm and just serve soft drinks.
“We already have the outdoor seating set up and have been staying open when we couldn’ t sell alcohol inside since that restriction came in, so we decided to carry on.”
Speaking yesterday afternoon, he added: “It’s been quite quiet so far and the town does seem quieter than usual, but it’s early days.
“Hopefully we won’t need to be in Tier 3 for too long.
“I would say that I think it’s important for the grant announced with these latest restrictions to be implemented. I applied for it the day it was announced and haven’t heard anything.
“I appreciate what they’re trying to do, but if they announce these things you would expect them to be ready.”
Perthshire publicans preparing to be handed a lockdown reprieve may be forced to pull the shutters down again at their venues.
As some leeway was handed to Perth and Kinross landlords to take a step closer to regular trading this week, hardy residents braved the weekend’s weather to enjoy a libation safely again.
That reprieve could be short-lived with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon considering a national lockdown, depending on the furlough support available.
Among the venues reopening since last week’s announcement was The Malt House, which had shut down when the second hospitality lockdown was announced last month.
Staff at the Princes Street pub have spent their hiatus from pulling pints upgrading the patio, to which drinkers rushed back at the weekend despite Storm Aiden.
The team said it had been a tough few weeks but they were delighted to be pulling pints again.
However, not every bar in Perth will be welcoming patrons back immediately.
Management at The Twa Tams say they will be using the next two weeks to carry out refurbishments indoors and out , as well as completing staff training.
Bosses stress they’ll be open next weekend, having had a fully booked bar on Halloween.
In Angus, a closed Montrose pub will reopen as a restaurant this week in a bid for survival.
The Black Abbot in Newhame Road has traded for just six weeks since March – opening briefly before the ban on selling alcohol indoors after 6pm meant it shut again at the start of October.
As the furlough scheme ended on Friday, licensee Stuart Thornton said the move to become a restaurant was required to keep his staff in work.
The restaurant will be called Paniter’s – named after Patrick Paniter, the abbot in charge of Blackfriars Monastery in Montrose, born in 1470.