A POPULAR and well-known at the heart of a village has made the decision not to re-open

The Black Bull Inn in Frosterley is a local for many in and around the village but has been hit hard by the lockdown and subsequent restrictions

In a post on Facebook the landlord announced the closure "with great sadness".

The post said: “A great deal of time and discussion has gone into how we may mitigate government social distancing restrictions and maintain the safety of our staff, owners and customers. However, we have decided that this will not be possible whilst also maintaining the viability of the business.

"Please be aware that this decision was not an easy one and certainly not taken lightly. However, ultimately the safety of our landlords and their family, who all live at the pub must be the number one priority.

“We are incredibly thankful to all of you for your loyal custom over the years and we are so sorry that you won’t be able to frequent your favourite pub again, at least for the foreseeable future anyway.

"Please stay safe everyone. Hopefully we’ll see you again someday.”

With a cut to customer capacity the pub would not be able to survive until the restrictions are eased further down the line.