THE pub chain Greene King will permanently shut a number of pubs across the UK after further restrictions on the hospitality industry were introduced by the Government.

Greene King, which has dozens of pubs in the North-East, said it had made the "difficult decision" not to reopen a third of 79 sites due to trading restrictions.

It is thought around 800 jobs will be lost.

Recent rules introduced across England now mean pubs have to shut at 10pm, and venues restricted to table-service only.

Greene King said it was urgently calling on the Government to step in a provide support to the industry to prevent further closures and job losses.

It is not yet known which North-East venues are affected.

A spokeswoman for Greene King said: “The continued tightening of the trading restrictions for pubs, which may last another six months, along with the changes to government support was always going to make it a challenge to reopen some of our pubs.

“Therefore, we have made the difficult decision not to reopen 79 sites, including the 11 Loch Fyne restaurants we announced last week.

“Around one-third will be closed permanently and we hope to be able to reopen the others in the future.

“We are working hard with our teams to try and find them a role in another of our pubs wherever possible.

“We urgently need the Government to step in and provide tailored support to help the sector get through to the spring and prevent further pub closures and job losses.”