THE owners of Frankie & Benny's have confirmed their Crewe restaurant has permanently closed.

The Restaurant Group, which owns the eatery chain, said last month it was looking to cut up to 3,000 of its workforce and shut 125 sites.

The Italian/American restaurant on the Grand Junction Retail Park closed its doors in March and when signage was removed recently from the front of the premises speculation was rife that it would not be reopening as lockdown measures are eased.

Now The Restaurant Group has confirmed it has suffered a similar fate to its Tex-Mex eatery chain Chiquito, which also had a restaurant on the retail park and has been forced to shut the majority of its outlets nationwide.

TRG with 600 outlets across the UK, including Wagama and Garfunkel's, has been restructuring its business via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and had placed about 22,000 workers on furlough.

Frankie & Benny's has born the brunt of the closures. Now the nearest restaurant to Crewe is at Festival Park in Stoke.

A TRG spokesman said: "The casual dining sector has faced enormous, well documented pressures which have been exacerbated by Covid-19 and the lockdown.

"Unfortunately, we have had to take difficult but necessary decisions to ensure a sustainable future for our business. We have been in close contact with affected colleagues throughout this process and we are doing all we can to support them during this time."

The closure is another blow for the Grand Junction Retail Park which has seen other large dining and retail businesses hit in the pandemic.

Bella Italia, next door to Chiquito, also closed permanently after its owner Casual Dining Group went into administration at the beginning of the month.

Elsewhere, the administrators have pinned signs to the windows of Harveys which shared premises with Benson for Beds, both of which are owned by the Blue Group who has said it has been able to save 2,000 jobs nationwide by a restructuring package which will see the company broken up.

Bensons for Beds is being bought back through a pre-pack administration, but 50 stores are to be closed. Sister company Harveys is continuing to trade in administration while a buyer is sought and staff have been retained for now.

Further down the Grand Junction Laura Ashley is selling off its stock at discount after the iconic firm went into administration at the start of the lockdown. Its Crewe store is among the half of its outlets set to shut permanently, but the doors will be kept open until the middle of next month. Laura Ashley's Nantwich store has escaped the axe and will stay open.