A WORCESTER carvery has declared it will be staying open amid reports that the chain is closing restaurants.

The Toby Carbery on Bath Road will not close despite Mitchells and Butlers, who own All Bar One and Toby Carvery, announcing they will axe up to 20 of their pubs and restaurants as the hospitality sector battles coronavirus restrictions.

General manager of the Worcester branch, Kristy Walters reassured customers that the carvery will remain open in a Facebook post put up on Tuesday night.

She wrote: "Many of our guests may have seen numerous media posts today in both local and national press regarding closure.

"We would just like to reassure you that this is not true.

"We will very much be open as soon as we are able to be, and myself and the team are looking forward to welcoming our guests back."

An M&B spokeswoman said: “As announced in September, M&B re-opened the vast majority of its estate, approximately 95 per cent, after the first lockdown ended.

“The remaining sites have been under review on a case-by-case basis since, taking into account factors such as expected footfall and business layout.

“We have taken the difficult decision not to reopen some of these sites and are working with leaseholders on next steps.”

Last month, the group, which also runs the Harvester and Miller & Carter chains, started redundancy consultations with staff.

The pub and bar group said it was facing “significant difficulties” after restrictions tightened again but did not disclose how many jobs would be impacted by the cuts.