THE boss of one of Bradford's most popular restaurant chains has criticised the Government's 10pm curfew for "causing crowds and hours of lost orders".

Ishfaq Farooq, owner of MyLahore, also said more clarity is needed on the new schemes coming into place to replace the furlough scheme.

Appearing on the BBC's Politics North, Mr Farooq, who runs MyLahore's five restaurants in Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London, shared his concerns this morning.

Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants in a bid to try and bring the infection rate down.

Mr Farooq said: "The curfew is clear that you have to get everyone out by 10pm.

"But this means we have to stop taking orders at 8.30, 8.45pm, so we're not just losing an hour's business we are losing a few hours of orders.

"It also means when we close, all our customers have to leave at the same time so there's customers crowding outside which means the social distancing rules are hard to follow and increases the risk."

Also last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new job support schene to replace the furlough scheme, aimed at protecting "viable" jobs where staff are working reduced hours.

Mr Farooq added: "We thank the Government for the furlough scheme, but these restrictions are really affecting us in this industry as we're losing sales because of the curfew and a drop in customer confidence."

He added that the hospitality industry needs more details on the scheme and a "comprehensive sick pay plan" to give staff confidence if they have to stay at home through self-isolation or illness.

Mr Farooq said that things are "not looking good" going forward.