Three Seaham pubs now closed for deep cleans following reports customer tested positive for coronavirus

Bottleworks, in Church Street, and Marlborough, in Charles Street, will both be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 18 and 19) after bosses say a man, who is believed to a regular at pubs in the Harbour area, has tested positive for Covid-19.

The Inn Between, in South Railway Street, has also confirmed it will be closed for a deep clean opening on Friday, August 21 at the earliest.

Announcing the closure on Monday evening, bosses at Bottleworks confirmed the man, who they say has tested positive for Covid-19, has not visited the pub since Sunday, August 9, but have decided to close for a deep clean to be carried out.

A licensed coffee bar, The Volunteer Arms, has posted on Facebook after concerns were raised about the matter – but say they will remain open as they assured residents the man has not visited the pub in over a year.

On Monday, August 17, it was announced seven people have tested positive for coronavirus in County Durham taking the total to 3,408 and two more people have tested positive in Sunderland taking the total to 1,828since the start of the pandemic.

This is what the three pubs said about the closure:

Bottleworks

A spokesman for Bottleworks posted on social media: “Just to let everyone know, The Bottleworks will be closed for the next two days for a deep clean as there has been a man confirmed with Covid-19 in Seaham who drinks around the harbour.

"He hasn’t been in The Bottleworks since August 9 but just to be on the safe side we are going to do a deep clean.”

The Inn Between

Scott Purvis, who owns The Inn Between, said: “We are closed for a minimum of 72 hours as it’s my understanding the virus dies after 72 hours. Then we will go and do a deep clean as it’s safe that way for us.

"As far as I’m aware there isn’t a confirmation on this case, it’s just word of mouth.

"We are looking at Friday at the earliest we will open. We haven’t had the person in our pub mentioned, but we have however had associates who have been with the named person here, who may have transmitted the virus.

"We have also not heard from any Government official regarding this but taking no chances as our daughter has asthma.”

Marlborough

Posting on Facebook, the Marlborough added: “Due to a recent confirmed case of coronavirus, we have taken the decision to close for the next two days for another deep clean.“We chose to remain closed even after government guidelines said we could reopen. This was in the interest of our staff and customers, and this will always remain our priority.“We thank you for your understanding.”

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