Leamington Spa fairytale tea room boss 'heartbroken' over lockdown

Many of the performing arts students who work as characters would normally be preparing for pantomimes

The owner of a fairytale-themed tea room says she is "heartbroken" its doors have closed for lockdown just two weeks after opening.

Kelly Iles opened Enchanted in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, after her previous venue was hit by the pandemic.

She says she now fears for the future of her latest venture, which sees actors dressed as fairytale characters sing to customers, young and old.

Its chances of survival she said rested on lockdown ending on 2 December.

Mrs Iles said she had been expecting another national shutdown, but was shocked to hear from a customer it would be for four weeks.

"I was instantly crying inside," she said, adding as long as it does not "eat into Christmas bookings" she was hopeful the business would survive.

Student Lauren Bignall successfully auditioned to be part of the singing team

The tea room, which only opened on 24 October, is among thousands of hospitality venues in England which have closed under measures to cut "rapidly" rising cases of Covid-19.

Mrs Iles said worry over her income and concern for her 19 staff, most of them young performers, had kept her awake at night, saying they had been "left in limbo".

"I feel heartbroken because I offered them a safety net after a turbulent year," she said.

The mother-of-three spent much of the first lockdown delivering about 75,000 meals to NHS workers from her closed restaurant, the Barn Kitchen, receiving recognition from the Pride of Britain Awards.

But the 110-seat Coventry restaurant, which also featured singing characters, was hit by restrictions on indoor performances and closed in August.

However, the community rallied round and Mrs Iles and husband Paul were offered 28 different premises to rebuild the business.

They also received a council grant and the new venue has been "helped by non-stop bookings from nurses", she added.

The characters will be taking part in Leamington's virtual Christmas lights switch-on

The owners advertised for two performers to join six others playing the parts of 64 characters at afternoon teas at the site.

But with theatres closed, Mrs Iles received 227 applications - more than 60% of them from professional performers.

In the end the couple took on eight performing arts students to join the existing cast.

They include Lauren Bignall, 17, who is studying drama among her A-levels.

"It has been good being the different characters, it's really fun. The children quickly believe in it and they ask lots of questions," she said.

Lauren said it was "like doing a show every day of the week" and gave her the chance to enjoy acting

The colourful, enchanted forest-themed tea room immediately attracted attention and bookings for November and December filled up within three days of advertising signs going up, Mrs Iles said.

She said it brought a "little bit of sparkle" at a time children were missing play dates, cinema and pantomimes and said the opening day was "really emotional"

"We feel families, and especially children, are missing out on magic and fun. In a digital world they are not getting to interact with real people and real performances right now."

Jess Troup, 16, has loved to sing and dance since the age of three, and said playing characters was a "cool Saturday job"

Warwickshire has been in the lowest, tier one Covid alert category, and until the second lockdown, the business had managed to keep afloat by reducing the number of customers at any one time and employing strict social distancing measures.

During lockdown, the government has introduced some support measures for businesses forced to close, including bounce back loans.