A business owner said new restrictions mean she is no longer allowed guests to stay at her B&B despite being on the Nottinghamshire border.
Celia Dyson, owner of The Fox Cottage Bed and Breakfast, said she feels people living in the countryside are being “penalised” when cases are far lower than in the city.
The B&B, in Willoughby-on-the-Wolds – which has a Loughborough postcode – comes under Rushcliffe Borough Council, meaning the alert level is now ‘high’.
Tier Two lockdown means you cannot meet people not part of your household indoors.
Wymeswold, a two minute drive from the B&B, remains in Tier One.
Celia, 64, who has only had one guest a month book into her B&B since she was allowed to reopen in July, said Nottinghamshire’s Tier Two rules mean she will have to close again.
She said: “It’s very annoying because we have been sticking to the guidance and these new rules are very restrictive for us living in a rural area. We are on the border, it is difficult.
“Owning a B&B is different to self-catering because we do come into contact with the guests. Now you are not allowed to meet indoors this will definitely have an impact on my business.”
Celia’s next guests are due to arrive in three weeks.
She said: “With the Tier Two lockdown, I won’t be able to have them to stay unless the rules change.
“It’s very difficult. From March to July we were closed and now we’re only getting a trickle of guests, around one booking a month. It hasn't been good at all because people aren't travelling.”
Celia, who started the business two and a half years ago as an early retirement project, said her guests are often people staying in the area for weddings or parties.
She also runs a ‘horse B&B’ so horse riders can stay over after competitions in the area.
She added: “I can understand it in that droves of people are going to the countryside and the only way they’re going to stop it is a blanket restriction on the county.
“But it does feel like it is penalising the countryside. It is a concern for me.
“I think people need to use their intelligence but they’re clearly not doing that.”
