Bosses of a wine bar that opened just before the first lockdown fear a lack of clarity from the government over Covid restrictions is causing customers to cancel Christmas plans.

Staff at Valerie's Wine Bar, in Ashford's Lower High Street, are worried about people pulling out of its first ever festive season because of omicron.

Last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he would not put any restrictions in place before Christmas.

But many business owners have already had to cancel big events due to people not wanting to risk catching Covid and missing out on seeing their families.

Managing director, Alexandra Lewis Wortley, explained that multiple lockdowns had hit the hospitality industry hard and now the uncertainty that surrounds the new strain of Covid had "crippled the sector".

"People are worried," she said. "We don't know how deadly this variant is. People don't want to risk getting Covid this close to Christmas.

"I don't think many people are willing to risk being pinged and having to stay home for the sake of a night out. So that's massively crippled the sector."

Alexandra, who also run a domiciliary care company, says that although the grants the government gave business during the first lockdowns were good, the lack of clarity about omicron is now causing problems.

She said: "The pandemic has been pretty brutal in the business sense.

"When everything reopened in between the lockdowns people were very slow to trust going out again, even though we took the correct precautions.

"But slowly and surely people did come out of their shells. However, we have noticed, definitely more recently, as soon as there is talk within the news about new variants, people stop going out."

The wine bar was set to have a big event on Christmas Eve, but due to fears of testing positive their DJ pulled out.

Alexandra continued: "Because of the not knowing we don't know what staff we should have working, what drink orders we need. It really upsets all the planning because you've got so many variables now.

"It is the same with New Year's Eve celebrations. It's a shame because it's a lot of work that we put into it. As New Year's Eve is a party that most bars will be planning months and months in advance."

Despite the uncertainty, Alexandra has still seen a lot of support from her community.

She said: "Even though we still aren't sure about what is happening, it's been really nice to see more people staying on the high street after the lockdowns.

"Not just for the hospitality industry, but also the shops.

"It's nice to see how busy it has been over the last few weeks – and it'd be really nice if people continue to do that."