Iconic village pub Hapton Inn forced to close three weeks before Christmas amid staff shortages

A village's last remaining pub has been forced to temporarily close due to kitchen staff shortages.
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Frank Owen, who runs the historic venue, made the sad announcement on social media earlier today (Saturday).

On the Hapton Inn's facebook page, he wrote: "In light of recent events, unfortunately the decision has been made to shut the pub completely until further notice. Therefore, Wednesdays Christmas market event won’t be taking place. I apologise for any inconvenience caused."

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This announcement follows a message, which was posted yesterday which read: "We’ve got some tough news to share and we hope everyone understands and is compassionate with our decision. Since our kitchen team has been reducing and we’ve been struggling to replace them with suitable candidates, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to continue as a drinking establishment only. We've got some tough news to share and we hope everyone understands and are compassionate with our decision."

The Hapton Inn was built in the 1800s and boasts three bedrooms, a beer garden and a car park.