A MEDITERRANEAN restaurant has temporary closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sophies Shawarma Pizza and Grill in Lowesmoor has closed for around 12 weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak in Worcester which has caused the restaurant to suffer financially.

Owner of the eatery, Sophie Wall, said: “We have been struggling since early last week – we think this is down to the coronavirus as no one has been coming in.

“Business was good before that. We have been losing money."

She added: “It’s quite saddening. It’s very sudden. But it’s the best thing to do for us as a business and the general public.

“I don’t think it’s going to get any better in the long run. It’s been declining, and it’s going to decline even more.

“We do traditional Turkish kebabs where the chefs use a certain cut of meat. Our suppliers can’t get the particular cut we need.

"We were having to pay treble the cost of meat. It wasn’t cost effective.”

She said that after Boris Johnson’s press conference which urged Brits to avoid restaurants, pubs and theatres, her eatery has suffered a financial loss.

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Miss Wall, aged 32, added: “We usually have 150 to 170 covers each day – but yesterday we only had 74 covers.

“I think it’s understandable that in Boris Johnson’s press conference he told everyone to keep away from restaurants.”

Miss Wall, from Worcester, said she discussed the temporary closure with her staff who all welcomed the idea, adding: “We have decided it is the best decision to keep our staff and ourselves safe.

"To be honest we discussed with the staff as well and agreed it was best to go.

“Restaurants and pubs are going to be told to close eventually.”

The restaurant closed on Tuesday, March 17 and will be shut for around 12 weeks until further notice. However, Miss Wall said this time scale could change and any updates will be posted on Facebook.

She added: “No matter how much we provide hand sanitizer to our customers and follow the guidelines there will still be people coughing and sneezing coming into the restaurant.”

The restaurant opened its doors in September 2018 and sells kebabs, pizzas, pastas, salads and desserts.