AN UPMARKET restaurant housed in a grand 18th-century Grade II-listed building has shut down for good.
Owners have called time on the restaurant, leaving locals and loyal customers devastated.
The Mucky Duck at Drakeholes prides itself on its heritage and charm, claiming that the Royal Mail Coach from Louth to may have made a stop there in 1832.
But on Tuesday, the restaurant announced it would be closing its doors for good, prompting hundreds of reactions and comments online.
In a brief post on , a spokesperson wrote: “Dear valued customers, it is with deep regrets that The Mucky Duck will be closing its doors indefinitely.
“At this time, there will be no plans for reopening.
“We would like to thank everyone that has stuck by us through this journey, thank you for all your support and understanding.”;
Disappointed customers shared their sadness at the news.
“Gutted we were looking forward to revisiting this Easter weekend so sad it’s so hard to find little gems like this,” wrote one person.
Another commented: “Oh no all the hard work put into bringing that beautiful building back to life.”
One user wrote: “As the owner of a village pub I get how hard this industry is. The costs of everything are crippling. Doesn’t matter how busy you are. Use your local or lose your local.”
In 2023, the restaurant was forced to shut for months after raiders used a stolen telehandler – causing a whopping £250,000 worth of damage.
It comes as a historic pub in after serving customers for almost 500 years.
The which started serving drinks in 1540, closed on April 13.
The pub's landlord, Richard Rossendale-Cook, blamed rising costs for the closure.
He said: “I'm very very sad, of course I'd like to carry on.”
“But unless somebody comes up – a Russian oligarch or someone will give me £360,000 to go and pay off the bill, you are going to shut and that's the end of it.”
Another historic pub that had been around for over 160 years also recently closed.
, despite the old school pub being hugely popular with locals.
The Gun, in Homerton, was given a revamp in 2013 by landlords Nick Stephens and his partner Hanna-Sinclair Stephens and opened a year later in 2014.
The pub took a major hit during the , but was able to continue trading thanks to a crowdfunding campaign that raised over £30,000 in just a single day.
But ongoing pressures on the hospitality industry, combined with the pub's limited capacity of just 90, have made it financially unsustainable, forcing the closure.
