CELEBRITY chef Mark Hix has implored people to cancel restaurant bookings if they are unable to attend, after no-shows cost his Lyme Regis restaurant more than £1,000 over just three days.

With the hospitality industry still trying to get back on its feet following 16 months of lockdowns, the Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis reported a loss of £1,000 due to no-shows in less than a week.

The restaurant on Cobb Road owned by celebrity chef Mark Hix opened its doors in July 2020. It is one of the restaurants in the area which is facing problems with diners not turning up.

The Oyster and Fish House reported a number of empty tables due to people not showing up to their bookings, and not contacting the restaurant to cancel.

Mr Hix said: "The problem is unfortunately that people don't let us know that they can't come. I think what probably happens is people book two or three restaurants for safety and then decide where they want to go.

"Over the course of a week it does work out to be a fair amount of money lost.

"It's not a great time for the restaurants and pubs at the moment coming out of the pandemic. There's plenty of issues with short staffing and this is just another thing we have to worry about."

At the end of last month, the restaurant reported that it had lost more than £1,000 in three days, from Tuesday, August 24 to Thursday, August 26.

A spokesperson for the restaurant said that staff are often chasing guests while they are in the middle of service, and more often than not do not receive a response. The venue implores anyone who needs to cancel a booking to do so on their confirmation email.

The restaurant is now taking deposits on bookings, in an attempt to resolve this issue.

Mr Hix added: "We're having to charge deposits now. If you were to go to the theatre or a hotel you would pay upfront, it just protects us and makes sure people who book genuinely intend to come.

"It's a small percentage of people who don't think twice about it, and hopefully the deposit will filter out the people who aren't serious about coming the restaurant.

"We're doing what we can to prevent this from happening but, at the end of the day, it's down to people to just call up and say 'sorry, we can't make it'."