CORONAVIRUS is impacting big business, but it is local, independent traders who could be hardest hit.

Pub landlady Beth Robinson, of The Beeswing Inn at East Cowton, North Yorkshire, said: "It's a real worry and I'm trying not to panic about it all, but it is difficult.

"It is hard because we are being told not to close, but at the same time people are being told not to go to pubs.

"We'll be spending money just to keep open, but people are being told to stay away."

Leanne Walker, of the Catterick Village Fisheries chip shop, said small businesses do not have the same financial backup enjoyed by large chains and big businesses.

She said she was already looking at whether her fish shop could start delivering to customers in a bid to keep trading if people stop visiting the shop.

"We have to be entrepreneurial and do what we can," she said.