“We are devastated”.

These are the words of one Romsey business owner after Boris Johnson revealed the UK would be thrown back into a second lockdown to prevent a “medical and moral disaster” for the NHS.

The Prime Minister said Christmas may be “very different” but hoped imposing a four-week lockdown, starting on Thursday, would mean families can gather.

This comes as Labour leader Keir Starmer said he welcomed Boris Johnson’s plans to plunge the country into a second lockdown, but added it should have happened “weeks ago”.

Now, business owners across Romsey have voiced their fears over a second shutdown in an effort to drive down coronavirus cases.

For many, it’s a case of dusting off back up plans from the lockdown in the spring to survive.

Martin Rickman, the husband of the landlady at The Sun Inn, Winchester Road, said the pub will continue to offer their takeaway service to customers to try and balance the books.

He said: “It is just disappointing it has come to this, because we have done everything we can to be Covid safe, but we will still offer our takeaway service.

“We are offering our full takeaway menu and during the last lockdown the best day we had was 100 roast dinner orders.

“Hopefully by running the takeaway service we will just about keep our heads above water.”

A Government u-turn on serving takeaway beer could also help pubs like The Sun Inn.

But for other businesses, takeaway is not a workable option. One of the owners of Dish Deli and Kitchen in Latimer Street, Rachel Hedges, said: “We are devastated to be forced to close down for the second time, but understand the reasons why. “We will have no income and our team will be furloughed losing wages again.” She warned with the restaurant closed it wouldn’t be viable to only offer a takeaway service, despite having “some very loyal customers who order regularly”.

Rachel felt Government support had been good but added: “The Government has done an amazing job to support the hospitality industry throughout the pandemic, but had we not been able to get a personal loan we don’t think we would make it through.”

Owner of That Little Tea Shop in The Hundred, Jackie Clemo, saidsaid she was also devastated to hear the news. She said: “Obviously we are devastated because we had just built [the business] back up to where we were before, we followed every rule we could and did everything we could, but if it gives us a chance to all be together at Christmas we have to try it.” The tea shop would need Government support, she added. But she has hope of bouncing back. “I am confident we can pick up from where we left off. on Thursday,” she said.

“We will need some support from the Government, because we still have rent and other bills to pay, so I am interested to see what comes out of that.”

Jackie added: “The difficulty last time was we did not know if the business could come back, but I am confident we can pick up from where we left off on Thursday.”