BUSINESS and hospitality industry leaders in Dorset have described the 'haphazard' announcement of a second national lockdown as a 'devastating' blow for the local economy.

And they fear unless a comprehensive package of financial support is extended many businesses will be forced under.

The new four-week national lockdown is due to run from Thursday across England, with MPs set to vote on the latest restrictions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops and places of worship will close. Meanwhile, schools, colleges and universities can stay open.

Andy Lennox, founder of the Wonky Table lobby group – which has around 500 members throughout the conurbation's hospitality industry – told the Echo he supports the lockdown, but called for Dorset MPs to ensure they secure the right level of support for the industry as a matter of priority.

This call for industry support was also echoed by Bournemouth Town Centre BID chairman Paul Kinvig, and Dorset Chamber of Commerce chairman Ian Girling.

Mr Girling said: "There is no doubt many businesses will be devastated by this second lockdown, particularly when they have already done all they can to comply with requirements.

"These announcements have been made in a haphazard way and whilst we have seen some relief with the extension of the furlough scheme until December, this is only a short-term solution.

"Many businesses are already in a very precarious position and forward financial support for employers and employees needs commensurate with the scale of restrictions imposed."

Even the length of the lockdown, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday evening – hours after being widely reported in the press – is uncertain.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told Sky News, yesterday, that the lockdown could be extended if the infection rate of the coronavirus is not brought down significantly.

Meanwhile, Mr Lennox said: "A full lockdown is a lot more than we wanted, it is just a shame things did not move quicker. The writing was on the wall."

"The Welsh did it right, we should have followed the Welsh model. We should have had the circuit breaker – two weeks short, sharp shock, and then maybe had another one in January. But a full national lockdown is going to be incredible painful and a lot of businesses are not going to come back out of it."

Now Mr Lennox says he will lobby for a further hospitality-specific grant of around £7,500 a month, an extension of the VAT deferral scheme for 12 months, a six month extension to the business rates discount scheme, and permission to include alcohol sales with deliveries, where a premises licence is already in place.

He said: "We assumed the government had decided not to do the fire-breaker, we thought the tier system was here to stay. This is definitely a sidewards step.

"I absolutely thought we were not going into a full lockdown. It is a disaster from start to finish really, Groundhog Day.

"Those of us who got through the last lockdown got through it be shear force of will.

"The problem is a lot of people now have another month to get through and the pain is not now – it is in January, February.

"We will not have had pour December trade, because December will be weak at best. There will have been no build-up to Christmas, you're not going to have Christmas, then hit by every single bill under the sun in January and February.

"In the next five months you are going to see a lot of businesses go under."

Mr Lennox says he wants all of Dorset's MPs to now back the lockdown.

"The lockdown has to happen now, as we missed the circuit breaker. But we will also tell our MPs we need the right level of support for the industry.

"We will get through this by all working together."

Paul Kinvig, of Bournemouth Town Centre BID – the organisations representing businesses in central Bournemouth – said: "There was a growing inevitability about the announcement.

"For businesses I'm glad the furlough scheme has been extended, but there does need to be a further review of other support mechanisms for those businesses. Not just in terms of hospitality, but in terms of destination venues and events."

"It is vitally important that the support mechanisms are reinstated and maintained, especially for those in businesses and industries that haven't had anything so far. It has got to be a comprehensive package across the whole sector.

"One of the things that all the businesses say to me is they want certainty and clarity."

BCP Council leader Drew Mellor said: “I don’t underestimate the very difficult position the announcement places our businesses in, and those in the hospitality sector in particular.

“We will be working with our local MPs to seek further clarification from the government as soon as possible on whether additional support is available to the hospitality sector to help them through this latest lockdown.”

Mr Girling called for the lockdown to be used to enable mass test and trace systems and a long-term strategy to deal with the pandemic.

He said: "This time needs to be used to enable mass test and trace systems and the development of a long-term strategy to dealing with this pandemic. Hopefully this will also be a wakeup call for the many individuals who continue to blatantly ignore requirements - and businesses are paying the price for this.

"Everyone has to do their bit in this time of crisis."