A VARIETY of local restaurants have suffered with a number of no-shows since reopening at the beginning of the month.

Excited residents and visitors to Bournemouth have made bookings to local restaurants but have failed to show up or inform restaurants that they will not visit.

This has severely affected the Arbor restaurant in The Green House Hotel on Grove Road, which has had up to 20 no-shows in one day.

Manager of The Green House Hotel, Olivia O'Sullivan said: "I don't think people realise the impact not showing up has. We know it's not done maliciously, but I want people to be responsible for their own actions. Last Sunday, we had 35 tables booked in for the weekend and 20 of those were no-shows. Filling a hotel in the space of a week requires a lot of resources."

Olivia is reluctant to introduce booking deposits as she does not want to charge customers to book - she would prefer them taking responsibility.

Although reminders are sent to guests who have booked a table, many have not turned up for their reservation, impacting numerous aspects of the business.

Olivia said: "It does have an impact on us. We have to pay for wages, food and utilities such as gas, electricity and waste. And where we have to track and trace guests, we have to prepare everything beforehand. No-shows have always been an issue but never to this scale."

Moving forward, Olivia hopes that people understand the importance of communication and phoning the venue to inform them of your plans.

However, it hasn't only been the Arbor restaurant that has been affected.

Hot Rocks on the Pier Approach has also been on the receiving end of no-shows.

Duty manager Mirena Vasileva said: "There have been a lot of no-shows. We get fully booked at weekends and half the people won't show which is really frustrating."

The restaurant allows walk-ins and bookings but release a booked table to waiting customers after 15 minutes if the customers who booked do not turn up.

This situation is not ideal for the restaurant, especially with the government imposed restrictions in place.

Mirena added: "We have less tables than before due to the guidelines, so no-shows are the last thing we need right now. We really don't know why it is happening."

Unlike the Arbor in The Green House Hotel, Urban Reef does take deposits from customers to ensure their tables are filled.

The restaurant charges a £5 deposit for breakfast booking and £10 for other meals and 24 hours notice is required.

A spokesperson for the seafront restaurant said: "We take deposits and ensure people call us, which makes a big difference. We've had a few people who haven't showed up, but that's a minority."