GREENE King owned pubs in the area will not be affected by the company's decision to close 79 of its pubs and restaurants.

This clarification follows the announcement on Wednesday that Greene King, one of Britain’s biggest pub operators, is preparing to close 79 of its pubs and restaurants.

Pubs in the area which form part of the Greene King estate include: The Ship Inn, Alveston; The Farmhouse in Yate; The Hunters Hall Inn, in Kingscote; Fromebridge Mill, Whitminister; Rose Tree Farm, Quedgeley; Kings Head, Upton St Leonards; and the Royal George Hotel in Birdlip.

The news of the closures left many people in Gloucestershire worried about the future of their local.

Now, Greene King has confirmed that the pubs facing closures are only those which have not reopened since lockdown.

Pubs which are currently trading will not be affected.

A member of the team at The Hunter's Hall near Kingscote said: "We were awaiting official confirmation from the press team which arrived this morning. All the staff are thrilled! The pub and hotel have been doing so well since reopening."

Greene King, which owns around 2,700 pubs in the UK, said it "urgently needed the government to step in and provide tailored support" to the pub sector to prevent further closures following the implementation of a 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants.

A spokesperson for the chain said: "The continued tightening of the trading restrictions for pubs, which may last another six months, along with the changes to government support was always going to make it a challenge to reopen some of our pubs.

"Therefore, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen 79 sites, including the 11 Loch Fyne restaurants we announced last week.

"Around one-third will be closed permanently and we hope to be able to reopen the others in the future. We are working hard with our teams to try and find them a role in another of our pubs wherever possible.

"We urgently need the government to step in and provide tailored support to help the sector get through to the spring and prevent further pub closures and job losses."