BOTH of Basingstoke's Pizza Express restaurants will remain closed until the end of the national lockdown.

The chain has confirmed to The Gazette today that most of its restaurants in England have been closed throughout lockdown.

That is despite the government allowing eateries such as restaurants and cafes to remain open for takeaway orders only.

Pizza Express has two restaurants in Basingstoke - one in Festival Place and the other on Winchester Road.

And a poster stuck to the door of the Winchester Road store, which is located just off Brighton Hill roundabout, said that the move has come after government guidance.

Basingstoke Gazette:

A spokesperson for Pizza Express said: “Owing to the current lockdown, we have temporarily closed most of our restaurants in England, including both of our pizzerias in Basingstoke.

"Our top priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our teams and customers, and we look forward to welcoming our loyal customers back when our doors reopen on Wednesday 2 December.”

The current lockdown was announced on October 31, and came into force on Thursday last week.

It is due to end on December 2.

Pizza Express has faced financial difficulty this year, and is set to close 15 per cent of its restaurants for good.

It was announced in August that both of the Basingstoke branches were to be saved, but 1,100 members of staff were affected in the restructuring.

The UK and Ireland managing director of Pizza Express Zoe Bowley said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic led to some “incredibly tough decisions to safeguard pizza express for the long term”.

She added: “Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently.

“In most cases there is another pizza express nearby, either already open or reopening soon, to welcome our customers.”