Pubs banned from reopening under the Tier 2 Covid-19 restrictions are being urged to contact Teignbridge District Council, which may be able to help them find a way forward.

The leader of the council, Cllr Alan Connett, said he knew the landlords of pubs not currently serving food were going to be 'hugely disappointed' that they would be unable to open when lockdown ends.

The Tier 2 restriction means only those serving 'substantial meals' will be allowed to serve alcohol, and that will be only at socially-distanced tables.

Cllr Connett said there may be ways for drinks-only pubs to diversify in a way that enables them to open for business without breaking the rules.

How can the council help?

He said: "The council does have experts who can advise, if pubs are thinking 'what can we do to get on the right side of the rules and be able to open?', they need to speak to the council's team.

"We're talking about people who might want to diversify, there might be places that are thinking about doing takeaways and haven't done that before, there might be wet pubs thinking 'what can we do?'

"Speak to the council, we'll do all we can to help."

He said the council has been supporting local businesses throughout the pandemic.

Most recently, it has helped process Business Support Grants, which went live last week, and so far 620 have been approved.

Local MP thinks Tier 2 grading is unfair

The Conservative MP for Newton Abbot, Anne Marie Morris, has tweeted that she feels the decision to put the whole of Devon into Tier 2 was unfair.

Her post on Twitter reads: "Disappointed to see Devon placed in Tier 2, especially given the fact that Teignbridge currently has the lowest cases per 100k in England, but appreciate that it would be impossible to divide us up further.

"If this decision was made primarily based on healthcare capacity in the region then this is regrettable.

"We find ourselves in this situation due to historic underfunding of healthcare in the South West and a complete lack of understanding from Governments (of all colours) that a 'one size fits all' approach doesn't work, especially in rural areas.

"This pandemic should be a wake-up call as to how we provide rural healthcare in the future."

For more information on the Tier 2 restrictions, read What does Tier 2 mean for Dawlish?