Pub giant JD Wetherspoon says it expects its pubs - including The Counting House in Congleton - to remain shut until April as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

The company reports "zero" sales in 2021 so far, as all of its 872 pubs have remained closed since 31 December. In Congleton, all pubs closed except for take-aways when the district went into Tier 3 on Boxing Day.

Despite a summer boost from Chancellor Rishi Sunak's 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme, Wetherspoons says like-for-like sales dropped more than a quarter in the 15 weeks to November 8.

Sales were hit by the introduction of measures such as the tier category, which in Congleton and the rest of Cheshire East saw Tier 3 restrictions from 26 December and then Tier 4 from 31 December after the new strain of the Covid-19 virus was identified as causing new cases to spiral out of control.

This meant all pubs in Cheshire East, including the The Counting House, on Swan Bank, Congleton, were prevented from re-opening, other than for take-aways.

Other damaging changes prior to lockdown included a 10pm curfew, a requirement to order all food and drink 'at the table', and the mandatory use of face masks when moving around inside pubs.

Before reopening last July and August, the company spent £13.1million nationally on implementing measures aimed to keep its pubs Covid-secure.

A report presented this week to City investors said: "Assessments were carried out to ensure the risk of transmission of the virus was mitigated in all aspects of the pubs' operation.

"There were approximately 50 million customer visits registered using the 'track and trace' system, and there have been no incidents of an outbreak among customers, as defined by the health authorities, reported to the company, at any Wetherspoon pub."

The government enforced closures have forced the pub chain to place more than 99 per cent of its 37,674 staff on furlough. Staff numbers have also declined from 43,741 last March, with 378 employees at the Head Office and airport sites also made redundant.

During the current closure period, the chairman and non-executives' pay has been reduced by 50 per cent, and the CEO's by 25 per cent.

Wetherspoon's had planned to draw customers back in the New Year with cut prices but instead had to close all its pubs before the current lockdown started on January 5.

The company commented: "The duration of the current lockdown and ongoing restrictions is uncertain at this stage. The company's current assumptions are that its pubs will remain closed until the end of March 2021."

Wetherspoons has planned for a range of scenarios, including one where pubs remain closed until May. It does not expect trade to return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2022.

Even so, without the capital fundraising it is currently undertaking, the company estimates that it has enough liquidity to last until the end of the current financial year.

Tim Martin, chairman of Wetherspoons, said: "After a number of false starts, the hospitality industry generally anticipates a return to more normal trading patterns in the spring and summer, as a result of the introduction of a mass vaccination programme."