A number of Edinburgh restaurants and bars have been left furious after having to remove their outdoor terraces before the Fringe.
A decision earlier this year by the council had concluded that four businesses on the High Street must move their temporary structures by July 28.
Citing the volume of tourists and visitors coming through the area as one of the main reasons for the decision, the council had stated it would be 'unsafe' to keep the structures in place.
However, with less than a month until the deadline, restaurants have hit out at the ban, warning that removing the structures will impact on their earnings and staff.
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Hoping to have made extra income during the festival, a number of businesses had told the Scottish Daily Express they had hired additional staff to cover the terrace areas.
But with a permanent removal notice to come into force in weeks time, they could have to make up to 30 job losses.
Initially allowed by the council to help alleviate the difficulties of social distancing and other coronavirus restrictions, the areas will now no longer be permitted.
Speaking out on the issues, Gordon Scott, owner of Gordon’s Trattoria on the High Street, said the original deadline was July 17, three weeks before the Festival, but after talks it was extended until July 28.
Mr Scott said: "They have decided they are going to to take all the outside seating areas away. They say it’s unsafe because of the footfall in the Royal Mile in August. It's nonsense and from my perspective really frustrating.”
Expecting to bring in an additional £40,000 during August from the terrace alone, he added: "We’re happy the council has relented and they’re allowing us to keep it until the 28th, but at the same time there is despondency about the fact they have to come down permanently. They’ve said ‘Take it down and you’re not getting it back’. It’s just madness.
"You can go to any city centre in Europe and people want to sit outside – they enjoy the atmosphere, they enjoy the fresh air. Why would you take a seating facility like that away?
"They said it was because of residents complaining. I have not had a complaint at all.”
Mr Scott says the restaurants had taken on extra staff to service the patio areas and the decision to remove them would mean jobs going.
He added: “Between ourselves, the Filling Station, the Clam Shell and Treacle over the road I reckon there’s 30 jobs which will be lost.”
His daughter Daniela Scott, who manages the restaurant, said the patio had made a massive difference.
She said: “People love it – they all want to sit there. We're going to lose a lot of money. No-one was letting us know whether or not we could keep them. Cockburn Street got letters saying they could keep theirs till October, but we were left in limbo on the Mile. I was begging for someone to get back to me.
"In the end I hired five extra staff for August, including a chef, then they gave us a month's notice. I probably won’t need them now, but I’m going to have to keep them and cut everybody else's hours because there's nothing else we can do.”
The council said the decision on continuing the relaxed approach to enforcement made clear there were some streets where the structures would have to be removed earlier.
A spokesperson for the City of Edinburgh Council said: “Throughout the pandemic and beyond we have recognised how difficult it has been for businesses, particularly the hospitality sector, as well as the need for people to be able to socialise in a safe way. Support has included greater flexibility in allowing businesses to provide additional outdoor structures for their customers.
"It is considered that the commencement of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the associated rise in pedestrians, poses an additional public health risk relating to the temporary structures. We wrote to the relevant businesses on 10 June to advise them of this, allowing more than five weeks’ notice, and have since given a week’s extension to this.”
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