'It is pure loyalty and lovely. It makes you so proud to live in Castleford because the people are just amazing.' Castleford landlady thanks customers

Charlie Tipton who owns Hillside Fisheries in Ackworth said he is extremely grateful for his customers through the pandemic.

He said that people showed incredible spirit and togetherness since March and hoped vaccine developments could be the beginning of the end.

As a business serving takeaway food it has been able to mostly stay open throughout the year.

Charlie said: “At first we all thought it would be over in two or three weeks but when we realised it would be longer we asked the customers to bear with us. And they have been fantastic.

“It was like wartime feeling and a camaraderie with people, more patience and tolerance.

“Fish and chips is comfort food, a ‘national dish’ or whatever. It has that feeling behind it.

“Old or young it’s got that universal thing of it being a treat when times are hard and we are grateful and thankful to be able to open. We have so much gratitude for a our customers.”

The Magnet pub in Castleford is one of many that are providing takeaway food. This included a total of 88 Sunday roasts the weekend before last.

Manager Anita Worthington said she was stunned by the support offered by the pub’s customers.

She said: “It is pure loyalty and lovely. It makes you so proud to live in Castleford because the people are just amazing.”

She said that pubs that had recorded no positive cases, including the Magnet, were getting a raw deal.

She said: “I understand the reasoning, but we heard the Prime Minister is letting people mingle with other for Christmas. It is just nonsense. We’re all suffering. I have grandkids I want to see at Christmas but I won’t put them at risk.”

“We’ve worked so hard to build this and it was doing so, so well. You think 'how much longer we can do this?'.”