BUSINESSES have reacted to the Prime Minister's road map out of lockdown following an announcement by Boris Johnson.

On Monday, the Prime Minister said England’s Covid restrictions could finally be lifted by June 21, as part of a four-stage plan.

Many businesses in the region said they are delighted at the news however, others worry about recovering from financial difficulties.

The Northern Echo spoke to businesses in County Durham who are hoping to reopen in the coming months.

The Dun Cow Inn, in Durham, criticised the plan and said they are facing financial difficulty due to the restrictions.

Landlady Jill Carey said: “We are absolutely devastated as each week we are closed we continue to amass more debt.

"We do not have any outside area suitable so will not be able to open on April 12.

“When we reopened in July 2020 we applied to the Highways Department to request two parking bays be allocated directly in front of the Dun Cow for a seating area and be safely cordoned off. This would have helped significantly whilst we were operating on 30 per cent capacity.

“This was refused despite Elvet Bridge being closed since July 2020 for the foreseeable future and the road is now a ghost town with very little traffic. We have never been associated with violent customers nor have we abused the licensing objectives.

“There is no evidence to support hospitality was a high risk of transmitting Covid infections, on the contrary pubs and restaurants have been found to be managed very safely and a vital part of the community, in times when our mental health is rapidly deteriorating.

“We feel it is the right time to reopen the hospitality in a safe capacity with Covid risk assessment in place and trained staff to manage the situation, but should include indoors drinking.”

After a year of uncertainty, Valhalla North Axe Throwing Centre, based at Aycliffe Business Park, in Newton Aycliffe, said it was ready to reopen its doors.

The Northern Echo:

The Viking themed axe-throwing centre is the brainchild of partners Carl Howe and Kathryn Brown and launched in November 2019.

Mr Howe said: “It can’t come soon enough. We’ve always been able to keep a cap on numbers and keep those inside the venue to a safe social distance, and avoid common surfaces. The nature of the business requires a certain distance to be kept anyway.

“We absolutely welcomed the news yesterday, there has been so much uncertainty over the last year, it’s nice to have some sort of end date. We don’t fit into any specific category as an axe-throwing centre so we don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to open, we’ve just got to read between the lines with the Government guidelines.”

Other attractions in the county are preparing to return to normal but first making their own plan of action.

A spokesperson from Durham Cathedral said the chapter are digesting the Government’s announcement and will be making decisions as to their roadmap for reopening in due course, but as of yet no decisions have been made.