A PUB in Blackpool has made the hard decision to close its doors this weekend following more than 1,500 booking requests to watch the Old Firm match.

The Gallant Pioneer team announced that they usually "live for days like Saturday" but won't be welcoming Rangers fans to watch the Glasgow derby as they don't want to risk breaking any restrictions.

In a post on their Facebook page, the management team wrote: "Believe us this has not been an easy decision as we live for days like Saturday and was part of the reason in opening the pub six-and-half-years ago but we feel it is the correct decision with everything taken into account.

"With the sheer amount of people wanting to come down from Scotland for the Rangers match on Saturday, the press up there lifting our post last week has highlighted us to even more to people wanting to come to the pub."

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The post went on to say: "Then we have the First Minister of Scotland advising everyone not to travel to Blackpool which has lead to another barrage of messages of people planning to do the exact opposite of what she has said.

"I am not exaggerating when I say we have had requests for over 1500 people for our wee pub since last week.

"Also with the new restrictions that people MUST be from the same household we feel it is impossible for us to police this weekend with so many strangers in groups coming to Blackpool which then puts our staff and customers safety at risk which is paramount importance to us.

"The pubs future could be at risk with the position of being closed down and fined £10,000 when the council, police, or Covid enforcement officers come in and anyone has given false information when signing in.

"We have worked hard to have all measures in place and have complied with everything that has been asked of us since re-opening on July 4, but feel it’s just not worth the putting the business at risk for us after the year we have had."