TWO pubs in Cardigan, which is suffering a coronavirus outbreak, have been forced to shut their doors by Ceredigion council – with the authority not ruling out closing more.

The Red Lion Inn on Pwllhai, and Bell Hotel on Pendre have both been ordered to close. It comes after “widespread community transmission” of the virus in the area, “from a cluster of cases following social events at public houses in the town”.

Pub crawls and parties following the end of the firebreak lockdown were blamed for a “sky high” number of cases in the town, with Ceredigion council still in the process of tracing potentially hundreds of contacts who may be affected.

The Bell and Red Lion closed voluntarily last week as cases began to mount, but the council today ordered the two pubs to shut under coronavirus regulations.

The council said the pubs were being forced to close “in response to a serious and imminent threat to public health”, and is “necessary for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence or spread of infection by coronavirus in the local authority’s area.”

The council said they believe the move is “proportionate” and that “similar sanctions are also being considered in relation to a number of other premises in the county.”

The pubs will remain closed until the council decides the situation is safe, and will be reviewed at least every seven days.

Customers who went to either The Bell or Red Lion Cardigan on or after 9 November 2020 were asked to self-isolate for 14 days from the date you last visited either public house, with contacts of someone who visited either pub asked to be “particularly vigilant” about symptoms.