Recruitment crisis hits Lancashire's hospitality and tourism sector
Some businesses are having to shut their doors because they can't find the staff to stay open
Hospitality experts are warning the industry is in the grips of a recruitment crisis that couldn't have come at a worst time.
There are estimated to be thousands of vacancies across the region with repeated lockdowns being blamed for staff leaving the sector.
It's as businesses are facing an 'extraordinary' surge in demand this summer.
Riccardo Provenzano, owner of The Bank Bar and Grill in Blackpool, said: "There's some places that sadly have ended up closing down because they've not been able to re-open due to lack of staff.
"Some people (businesses owners), where the staff haven't come back to work or they've just not managed to find new staff, they're pulling three or four jobs working the bar, running up to the kitchen, cooking food, serving food, doing the job of three people but they are only one.
"It kind of reminds me of the old glory days of Blackpool because it's absolutely jumping, there's people everywhere and it sometimes feels that the hospitality industry they can't quite staff the demands.
"From the moment we re-opened it's just kind of been gangbusters. It's what I'd say is a good problem to have but it's still the matter of working 14/15 hours a day seven days a week.
"Luckily a lot of my core team returned after furlough, but because there is such a demand for people to go out and to dine after being locked in the house for so long we're finding it a little bit difficult to get the extra support staff so we're constantly doing interviews and constantly trialing people.
"Because we've been that busy, we're pretty much turning into a bookings only venue, on a regular day to day we are usually pretty much fully booked from about 4pm onwards."