Coronavirus: South Shore restaurant shuts its doors to diners

Lucia Frankitt, owner of San Marcos in Lytham Road, South Shore, said that they had no choice but to close their doors to diners to keep people safe as the disease is set to spread.

"These are difficult times for everyone," said Lucia.

"We’ve been established for more than 18 years and never closed before, but, after hearing Boris Johnson’s speech on Monday, we closed to try and limit the spread of the virus.

"However, we will be offering a telephone only order free delivery service, while we try and cope with these uncertain times and this dreadful and frightening Covid -19 virus.

"Mothers' Day, coming up this weekend, is normally one of our busiest days of the year and we had many booked in but I can’t risk it, for everyone’s safety."

Mr Johnson has said the public should avoid pubs, clubs and restaurants in a bid to curb the potential spread of the virus but none have yet been officially ordered to close.