Shropshire Star

Beauty spot cafe closes amid tighter restrictions

A cafe at a Llangollen beauty spot has closed its doors just hours after new Covid restrictions were announced for the county.

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Ponderosa cafe

The Ponderosa at the top of the Horseshoe pass is a popular meeting spot for visitors, from bikers to walkers, cyclists and families.

Simon Clemence, who runs the family business with his wife and children, said the difficult decision was made to reduce temptation for people to travel into Denbighshire.

Denbighshire joined Wrexham and other counties on the north Wales coast on a local lockdown on Thursday, meaning that people could not enter or leave the local authority area except for work, or education.

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A review will be undertaken by the Welsh government in two weeks.

Mr Clemence said: "As a result of this update we have made the difficult decision to immediately close the takeaway and other parts of the cafe - the toilets and car parks - in order to reduce the temptation for people to travel into Denbighshire.

"This will initially be for a two-week period to coincide with the Welsh Government’s review. We will of course keep everyone updated as best we can moving forward.

"We understand we are not required to close under restriction rules, however this is the decision we have decided to take."

"Can I please take this time to thank all our customers for their continued support. Please note this decision has not been made lightly."

Customers took to social media to send messages of support to the cafe owners, saying it was a brave and wise decision. They promised to support the Ponderosa when it reopens.