THE Zizzi restaurant in Friars Walk in Newport has closed temporarily in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.

Azzurri Group, which runs the Zizzi chain as well as Ask and Coco di Mama, confirmed that its 300-plus UK sites have shut their doors from today.

The move is one of the largest mass closures yet, but comes as other dining chains halt operations for sit-down customers.

Steve Holmes, chief executive officer of Azzurri, said the decision was made in light of the Government's recommendation to avoid public meetings and with "deepest regret".

He said: "For many of our people, this will mean not working until we can safely reopen our sites and this has been the hardest part of our decision."

The dining group runs 167 Zizzi restaurants, 111 Ask Italian restaurants and a further 30 Coco di Mama sites.

The company said it currently plans for 117 Ask and Zizzi sites to be open for delivery, though details are not available on which outlets these will be.