A Sunderland bar has announced it will temporarily close until coronavirus restrictions are lifted in the North East.
Ttonic, on Vine Place, told customers it would be shutting at 5pm on Tuesday.
It comes after health secretary Matt Hancock said it would be illegal for people from different households from mixing indoors in any setting, including pubs or restaurants, and will face fines for doing so.
In a statement on social media, a spokesman for the bar said: “From 5pm today, Ttonic will close its doors until the North East restrictions are lifted.
“We hope it’s not too long before we can serve our lovely customers again.”
It is the latest North East venue to tell punters it would be closing due to the restrictions in the area.
Newcastle bar As You Like It announced it was closing “until further notice” and The Old Court House and Kitchen, in Consett, closed temporarily after the owners said it was “no longer viable” to stay open.
Local lockdown measures in the North East have been tightened in a bid to stop an even greater explosion of Covid-19 cases.
Health secretary Matt Hancock announced on Monday the region will be subject to even tougher restrictions than those already imposed – as coronavirus infection rates continue to rise.
The new measures will mean that people from different households will be banned under law from mixing indoors in any setting, including pubs or restaurants, and will face fines for doing so.
They will come into force on Wednesday, September 30 – but will not apply to Covid-secure schools and workplaces.
Under the regulations that came into force on Friday, September 18, almost two million people in Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, and County Durham were banned from socialising with other people outside of their own households or support bubbles in private homes and gardens.
