‘Such a shame’ cry punters as ‘awesome’ pub owned by family favourite restaurant chain to shut ahead of mass closures

PUNTERS are devastated after a pub owned by a family favourite restaurant chain announced it’s shutting in weeks.

The Treacle Mine pub in Polegate, near Eastbourne, will be shutting for the final time on July 4.

In a sign put up outside the boozer on Halisham Road, the landlords confirmed the closure was a “company decision”, reports The Argus.

No further reasoning was offered.

The pub is owned by Whitbread Group PLC, which has 840 sites across the UK and owns brands including Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre.

Taking to Facebook, fans of the venue have shared their outrage, as well as memories of going there over the years.

One said: “Very sad. Lots of memories of taking my late Nan there.”

 Another added: “Sad and wrong decision in my opinion. Wishing all the lovely staff well.”

A third said: “Oh no, they do such a great breakfast there.”

And a fourth: “Such a shame. One of my favourite places to eat!”

A fifth said: “Really a shame …Great staff good reasonable priced meals good atmosphere..We will miss going there. Big mistake …But greed rules.”

CLOSURE PLANS

Earlier this month, it revealed plans to close more than 200 of its branded locations and axe 1,500 jobs in favour of building more hotel rooms.

Whitbread said it plans to convert 112 restaurants into hotel extensions while closing 126 “loss-making” venues.

It hopes the sales will be completed within the next two years and the restaurants will remain open as usual until they are sold.

If a site is losing a branded restaurant, a new integrated restaurant will be made within the hotel.

The move will leave Whitbread with 387 restaurants that are part of its hotels and 196 branded restaurants.

The hospitality chain said it has already agreed to sell 21 of these restaurants for £28million.

However, it’s unclear exactly which pubs and restaurants are earmarked for closure and where they are located.

The group said the job cuts are still subject to consultation and come from its total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.

It followed reports that Whitbread was looking to speed up plans to sell hundreds of its pubs and restaurants.

The chain was said to have marked at least 250 of its 440 pubs and restaurants for sale, most of which are located close to Premier Inn hotels.

The Sun has approached Whitbread Group PLC for comment.