CORONAVIRUS restrictions introduced last week are "disproportionate and draconian" towards Wales' hard-hit hospitality industry, says a group of independent counncillors in Torfaen.

Councillors Jason O’Connell, Elizabeth Haynes, Dave Thomas, Alan Slade, and Louise Sheppard have signed the letter to First Minister Mark Drakeford, in response to the measures, after being contacted by residents concerned about the effect of the restrictions.

As of last Friday, people in Wales were prohibited from buying or drinking alcohol in a pub, bar, restaurant or cafe. These businesses must also close every day at 6pm.

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And a petition entitled ‘Don’t shut the Hospitality Sector without providing scientific evidence’ received more than 25,000 signatures, 564 of the which were from Torfaen.

The councillors' letter calls for more transparency on how decisions are being made, as well as for a united approach on restrictions with Westminster.

Cllr O’Connell said: “If the Welsh Government was concerned about the coronavirus, they would be locking down all areas of the country. But they seem to have focused on this one sector, I think quite unfairly.

“They bent over backwards to comply with the Welsh Government regulations. I was out in Cardiff the other day and you couldn’t get in anywhere without scanning for track and trace.

“All this is doing is driving people to go around each other’s houses, where it can’t be regulated.”

Cllr Thomas added: “[Businesses] spent so much money keeping people safe, and in my mind, they are safer than supermarkets.

"In Brains pubs, you have to book, they sit you down socially distanced from other people, you order everything over an app. In the pubs I've been to it's even down to staff monitoring how much you've had, and if someone's had too much they're asked to leave.

"For them to turn around and do this is disgusting in my mind.

“They’ve been singled out. Where are the facts and scientific evidence that its the pubs which are spreading the virus.”

South Wales Argus:

The letter in full

Speaking in the Senedd earlier this week, Mr Drakeford hit back when asked about this topic by South East Wales MS Laura Anne Jones, of the Welsh Conservatives.

Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Conservatives were “avoiding responsibility for facing up to” the rising number of cases, and “wants instead to make ridiculous allegations about sectors of the economy being punished in Wales.”

The First Minister said the Welsh Government does “our very best to be able to help [the hospitality sector] deal with the consequences of this emergency.”

He added that hospitality sector in Wales was receiving £340 million worth of support.

On the issue of a more unified approach with Westminster, Cllr Thomas said: "[Mark] Drakeford and the Welsh Government made a huge mistake not having a unified front with this.

"This is a global pandemic, they don't have the experience to deal with this on their own.

"They should have stuck to a united front and we would be in the same position now as our friends in England.

"There's a mental health aspect to it too. There are a lot of elderly men and women who go to socialise at the pub."

Cllr O’Connell said that, at a local level, he couldn't fault staff who have worked as part of the pandemic response team.

“The officers in Torfaen have worked really hard and gone above and beyond in responding to local needs and the different regulations,” he said.