A EUROPEAN restaurant based in Southbourne has announced it will stay closed until January due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Following the announcement Dorset would be in Tier 2 of coronavirus restrictions, Restaurant Roots, on Belle Vue Road, decided it won’t open until mid-January.

A post on the Restaurant Roots Facebook page said: “Due to the government announcement about the tier system. We have decided to keep Restaurant Roots shut until the middle of January.

“It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but after weighing everything up, it is just not possible to reopen at this time.

“We are sorry to have to disappoint diners who had bookings with us, but we had to think of our guests, staff and business as a whole, and it is just not viable.

“We will be in contact shortly with all our the people who had booking with us in December, and offering first refusal to bookings in the new year.

“On a positive note, we are going to continue doing our takeaway boxes, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, and we are releasing the preorder system shortly for Christmas boxes.

“We hope to see you all soon. If not in the new year.”