An East Kilbride restaurant has been forced to close its doors citing "spiralling costs" for its downfall.
Village eatery No 2 Montgomery opened last June, promising a taste of fresh, local produce in a modern and social dining space.
With a promise of creating 20 local jobs, they were just last month advertising for kitchen porter staff - but customers trying to book are now receiving emails saying the venue is permanently closed.
Prior to this, customers claimed they were unable to contact the restaurant for several weeks - now the owners have told Lanarkshire Live that the business, which had approximately 10 staff, became "unsustainable" due to rising costs, leaving them with little choice but to close.
Co-owner, Kevin Dougans, told us : "Unfortunately, we have decided to close the business down.
"It was a real shame as we were getting busier again after a couple of slow months, particularly our Sunday roasts and live music.
"But rising energy bills on top of general inflation made it unsustainable.
"It is a really sad time for everyone involved as we were looking forward to the Christmas period with our plans of parties and a market in the street to make up for the lost parties because of COVID regulations.
"But, as always, the resilient and wonderful people of East Kilbride will find somewhere to enjoy the festivities and they deserve it - we will really miss hosting them."
Concerns have been raised by some staff who say they are owed pay, with some customers saying they have unused ItIsOn vouchers also.
Now Kevin has moved to calm fears.
He added: "We called a meeting to inform the staff once we realised we couldn’t continue, which was quite emotional for all.
"There was about 10 staff at that meeting, with a total of three or four who were full-time. The rest, fortunately, had full-time jobs elsewhere which certainly softened the blow.
"But it is still very sad as they are all extremely talented and I’ve been doing what I can to help find them alternative work.
"Staff are owed for the final week, but that’s being paid this week once the final payment for redeemed ItIsOn vouchers comes in.
"For anyone with unused ItIsOn vouchers, they will be refunded directly from ItIsOn who hold voucher money until it’s redeemed."
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