Pub chain JD Wetherspoon has revealed first quarter sales plunged 27.6% and said it will burn through around £14 million while 756 pubs are forced to close in the second English lockdown.

The group lashed out at "baffling and confusing" coronavirus restrictions at a national and regional level across the UK.

Its slide in sales in the 15 weeks to November 8 followed a tough October after the 10pm curfew came into effect in late September, as well as table service and mandatory use of face masks.

READ MORE: Ian McConnell: If UK goose cooked on Brexit, it won’t be Tories who bear brunt

Wetherspoon said as well as the pubs shut across England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, it also has 51 sites in Wales which have just emerged from a two-week "firebreak" lockdown, and a further 64 in Scotland, which are "subject to an extremely onerous tier system".

Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said: "For any pub or restaurant company trading in different parts of the UK, and for customers generally, the constantly changing national and local regulations, combined with geographical areas moving from one tier to another in the different jurisdictions, are baffling and confusing.

"The entire regulatory situation is a complete muddle.

"However, the initial regulations, following reopening, introduced on July 4, were carefully thought through, followed thorough consultation, and were based on solid scientific foundations of social distancing and hygiene," Mr Martin said.

"The benefits of the regulatory hyperactivity since then, including the imposition of a curfew, are questionable."

The group said the Scottish restrictions are, as previously reported, having a "serious effect on trade".

The Herald: Picture by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire.Picture by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire.

Flutter's online revenue up by a third in three months

The owner of Paddy Power and Betfair said that revenue growth had accelerated by 30% in the last quarter, while online revenue rose by a third.

READ MORE: Flutter Entertainment also attracted a further 450,000 US customers in the three months to the end of September as the company exceeded expectations in the period.

Further heavy job cuts forecast as pandemic hammers Scottish tourism

Scotland’s tourism and hospitality industries have been hit hardest amid the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 70% of firms in these sectors expecting to cut jobs by the year-end before the UK Government furlough scheme extension was announced.

READ MORE: These are among the findings of a survey of more than 500 firms in Scotland, conducted by the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute and published today in partnership with law firm Addleshaw Goddard.

Sign up

You can now have the bulletin and the top business news stories sent direct to your email inbox twice-daily, as well as Business Week, the weekly round-up on Sunday:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/my/account/register/